J-K Administrative Council okays Public Universities Bill

On Saturday, the Union Territory Administration gave nod to the, 2022, with a view to address the issues regarding a wide variety of varsities and separate Acts governing each of them.

Srinagar:The Union Territory administration on Saturday gave nod to the, 2022, with a view to address the issues regarding a wide variety of varsities and separate Acts governing each of them, an official spokesman said. The Administrative Council (AC) which met here under the chairmanship of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha gave nod to the Jammu and Kashmir Public University Bill, 2022, the spokesman said.

Advisor to the Lieutenant Governor, Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, and J&K Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Mehta attended the meeting. With the view to address the issues regarding a wide variety of universities in Jammu and Kashmir and separate Acts governing each university or group of universities with existing regulations, the government intends to frame a common Public University Bill which would apply to all public universities of the Union Territory, the spokesman said.

He said the National Education Policy-2020 (NEP-2020) envisions an education system rooted in Indian ethos that contributes directly to transforming India, sustainably into an equitable and vibrant knowledge society, by providing high-quality education to all, and thereby making India a global knowledge superpower.

Moreover, the NEP 2020 envisages fundamental transformation in the structure of higher education by mandating the transformation of all affiliated colleges to either multidisciplinary research or teaching universities or degree-awarding autonomous institutions by 2035. The salient features of the current draft include emphasis on uniformity and flexibility in working of all the higher educational institutions, the spokesman said.

A number of new provisions have also been introduced to make the functioning of universities transparent and accountable through transparent procedures and public disclosures. In order to make the recruitment process fully transparent and merit-based, screening by the Public Service Commission and reduction in weightage to interview has been proposed for gazetted positions, he said.

For non-gazetted positions, it has been proposed to do away with interviews altogether and conduct recruitment through the Service Selection Board. Screening/recruitment by Public Service Commission's/ Service Selection Boards have been introduced in varying measures by other states like Odisha, Bihar, Jharkhand etc, the spokesman said.