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The National Conclave of Higher Education Ministers being organised by the Karnataka government in Bengaluru on February 5 will see representatives from J&K, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala discussing draft UGC regulations on vice chancellor and faculty recruitment
The University Grants Commission, an autonomous body under the central government, released the UGC (Minimum Qualifications for Appointment & Promotion of Teachers and Academic Staff in Universities and Colleges and Measures for the Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education) Regulations, 2025, on January 6. The draft rules are open to public feedback till February 6. (File image: UGC)
Uniting against the recently released draft UGC regulations on vice chancellor and faculty recruitment, seven states have finally come on board to attend the National Conclave of Higher Education Ministers being organised by the Karnataka government in Bengaluru on February 5. The one-day conclave will see representatives from Jammu & Kashmir (J&K), Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala participating.
The event is set to be thrown open by Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah. The initiative to organise this conclave was taken by the state’s Congress government to build a consensus against the proposed rules. Education is a subject in the Constitution’s concurrent list. Several opposition-ruled states have raised concerns on the provisions of the draft rules, which they believe will curtail the role of state governments in the higher education sector, even as they are the ones funding state universities.
Calling it a “good beginning”, Karnataka higher education minister MC Sudhakar told News18 that he had expected several other states, including Delhi, Punjab, Mizoram, and West Bengal, also to join in, but due to various reasons, they had not responded to attending the conclave. “Delhi has assembly elections on the same day, so it is understandable that they could not participate. Punjab too, where AAP is in power, has somehow not responded. Mizoram also didn’t respond, while West Bengal…I myself spoke to my counterpart there, who told me that they would check with the state’s chief minister and get back, but they too have not gotten back. But I believe it’s a good beginning with states coming together for an important cause,” the Karnataka minister said.
He also said it has come to light that regional parties in a few states are in alliance with the ruling BJP and hence are not in a position to express their opposition openly. “It has also been revealed that the JD(U), TDP, and LJP (Ramvilas Paswan), which are in alliance in the NDA, have issued press statements expressing their dissatisfaction with the draft UGC guidelines but have decided to take up the matter within their party forums only,” the minister said.
The University Grants Commission, an autonomous body under the central government, released the UGC (Minimum Qualifications for Appointment & Promotion of Teachers and Academic Staff in Universities and Colleges and Measures for the Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education) Regulations, 2025, on January 6. The draft rules are open to public feedback till February 6.
The draft rules propose to invest more power in the chancellor—who in most cases is the governor of the state appointed by the central government, and to be more specific, by the President of India—a bigger hand in the selection of the vice chancellors (VCs). It also proposes to reduce the number of people in the search committee to be appointed for the selection of VCs, mainly leaving out state government representatives, who so far used to be on the panel.
Last month, a Janata Dal (United) spokesperson too criticised the UGC draft guidelines, saying that they “did not agree with things said in the draft”. However, the party later decided to raise the issue internally.
“It is extremely important to strengthen the federal structure of the nation. This move of the Centre to forcibly impose its ideology all at once without consulting the states is inappropriate in a federal arrangement. This is an anti-constitutional approach,” said Sudhakar, adding that decisions will be taken upon consolidating the opinions of all the state education ministers in this conclave.
He added that the agenda of the conclave also includes measures to be adopted in case the Centre does not agree to review the proposed UGC rules. “This conclave is being convened to discuss and deliberate over the issue, after which we will pass a common resolution and convey it to both the union education minister and the UGC,” he said.
