Parliament passes bill to bifurcate J-K Central University

Updated on: Tuesday, December 08, 2009

New Delhi: Parliament today passed a bill to bifurcate the Central University in Jammu and Kashmir to have two separate institutions to cater to both the regions. The Central Universities (Amendment) Bill 2009 was passed unanimously in the Rajya Sabha today while Lok Sabha had approved it on December 1, paving the way for setting up one Central University in Jammu and another in Kashmir.

During the debate some members alleged that there was political motive behind bifurcation of the Central University and it would lead to demand for such institutions in regions like Vidarbha and Telengana.

Kishore Mohanty (BJD) even demanded a central university for western Orissa, where some organisations are demanding a separate state for the backward region. But, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal, who was replying to the discussion on the bill, made it clear that the Centre would not set up a Central university on the basis of regionalism.

He said Jammu and Kashmir has some peculiarity for which the Centre decided to have two universities in both regions. "We have already decided to set up one Central University in each state to remove regional imbalance," he said.

He also said setting up central universities was part of the UPA government's plans to exponentially expand higher education system as the government thinks the number of students enrolling for higher education is likely to go up from the current 26 million to 66 million in next few years.

Earlier this year, Parliament had passed Central Universities Bill for setting up 15 Central Universities in the country, including one in Jammu and Kashmir. However, the Central University of Jammu and Kashmir ran into trouble in June as different groups from both Kashmir and Jammu regions fought over location of the institute. The government then decided to set up one more Central University
in the state as a special case.

Sibal today said setting up Central universities was part of the UPA government's plan to exponentially expand the higher education system. The Bill proposes renaming the Central University of Jammu and Kashmir as Central University of Kashmir and to establish a new Central University of Jammu by appropriate amendments to the Central Universities Act, 2009.

Passing of this bill by Parliament will replace the Central Universities (Amendment) Ordinance, 2009, promulgated on October 20, 2009

Parliament passes bill to bifurcate J-K Central University

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