UGC draft regulations violate federal spirit: KTR

Hyderabad: Objecting to the new UGC guidelines, the BRS leaders on Thursday said that these proposed guidelines violates the federal spirit and undermine state authority over Universities.

A delegation of BRS party leaders led by working president KT Rama Rao met Union Human Resource Development Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and also Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday. Talking to the media, Rama Rao explained that the Centre’s proposed changes to UGC regulations undermine state rights and violate democratic principles.

The plan to give full authority to state governors for appointing Vice Chancellors through search committees directly interferes with the jurisdiction of the states. He criticised this move as an overreach by the Central government, infringing upon the autonomy of state-run universities.

After consulting with education sector experts about the upcoming UGC guidelines, the party presented its stance to the central government. KTR said that placing state universities

entirely under the control of Governors violates the spirit of federalism, weakening the democratic structure of the country.

He also raised serious concerns about the introduction of a ‘No Suitable Candidate Found’ clause in the recruitment process. KTR warned that this clause could be exploited to bypass the reservation policies for SC, ST, and BC communities, allowing positions to be filled with candidates from other categories under the pretext of unavailability. He stressed that such practices would directly violate the constitutional rights granted to marginalised communities and undermine social justice. Later in the day, KTR and party leaders met Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. At the request of Korutla MLA Dr Sanjay, the party appealed for the extension of National Highway 365B from Vemulawada to Korutla. They requested the construction of a Road-cum-Rail bridge over Mid Manair Reservoir, connecting National Highway 63 through Vemulawada to Korutla.

KTR stressed the importance of these infrastructure projects for improving regional connectivity and boosting economic development in the region.

Regarding the defected MLAs, KTR announced that the party would meet legal experts to ensure that appropriate disqualification procedures were enforced against these legislators. He said people of Telangana were expecting by-elections soon and the bypolls would take place, reflecting the growing demand for political accountability and integrity in the state.