Panel not satisfied with consultation on education tribunal

Updated on: Sunday, August 22, 2010

A Parliamentary panel has welcomed the proposed legislation to set up dedicated tribunal to resolve disputes in higher education sector, but expressed dissatisfaction over rushing through the bill without holding proper consultation with all stakeholders.

"The committee can conclude that consultation process on the proposed bill has been far from satisfactory and the whole exercise seems to be a hurried affair whereby important stakeholders have either been ignored or consent presumed in case of nil response," the Parliamentary Standing Committee on HRD has said.

It noted that response of the states, central higher educational institutes and Medical Council of India has not been taken.

Noting that the clause 2 of the bill does not make it clear whether the proposed bill would apply to private, aided or unaided institutions, the committee has suggested that the bill should clearly specify institutes that will be brought under its jurisdiction so as to "remove any ambiguity".

Presenting its report in the Parliament today, the committee headed by Oscar Fernandes recommended a five-member state educational tribunal instead of the proposed three-member tribunal saying the former will be more "effective".

The bill proposed to set up a state level tribunal in every state. The committee, however, felt that since there are big and small states, one educational tribunal per state
cannot be made uniformly applicable across all of them.

"The issue needs to be examined thoroughly and a viable mechanism for setting up state education tribunals worked out," it suggested.

Expressing reservation over the representation of three secretaries in the National Tribunal, the committee suggested that the "composition may be reviewed accordingly" as secretaries remain preoccupied with their assignments and their availability for sitting may not be easy.

It emphasised that the order of the tribunals should have "some force" so that they are complied with within a specified period of time.

It hoped that the tribunals do not in any way hinder in the quality, innovation and creativity in higher education and are able to deliver their mandate efficiently.

The committee opined that district level tribunals could also be set up in 230 districts having higher concentrations of educational institutes.

"The other alternative in committee's view can be to have one district level tribunal for 2-3 districts based on the number of institutions in these districts," it added.

Panel not satisfied with consultation on education tribunal

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