Government to introduce reforms bills in winter session of Parliament

New Delhi, Nov 9 (ANI): The government wants to introduce major reforms bills, including one for the setting up of an overarching body in higher education, in the forthcoming Winter and Budget sessions of the Parliament, said HRD Minister Kapil Sibal.

Participating in a discussion on Higher Education Reforms at the India Economic Summit in New Delhi today, Sibal said the government would introduce a bill for setting up the National Commission for Higher Education and Research (NCHER).

Besides, the government will bring a bill to set up an independent accreditation agency. This agency will set a benchmark for the institutes. Those institutions, which fail to get through the entry barriers, will lose their recognition.

The HRD Ministry wants to bring a bill to check the educational malpractices. A number of institutions, which fail to deliver on the promise of offering quality education, would face action under this proposed Act.

The government is also planning to set up educational tribunals in the institutions to settle disputes between the staff and management. A separate bill would be brought to this effect.

"I want to introduce whole lot of bills in this session. But the Bill for setting up of the overarching body may happen in the Budget session," Sibal said.

The HRD Ministry has already prepared the draft bill for the NCHER. The proposed NCHER will bring complete revamp in higher education, he added.

The proposed NCHER would subsume the present regulatory bodies like UGC and AICTE.

The government also aims at bringing a bill to allow the entry and operation of the foreign educational institutions in the country. The Foreign Education Providers bill would be sent to the Cabinet soon.

This bill assumes significance as the ministry wants foreign institutes to come to India. Sibal had recently visited leading universities in the US and wanted them to come to India. (ANI)