Uttar Pradesh govt introduces bill seeking to prevent 'anti-national activities' in private universities in state

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday tabled a bill, seeking an undertaking from private universities that they will not allow their campus to be used for “anti-national activities”. [caption id=“attachment_5661321” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. PTI[/caption] The Uttar Pradesh Private Universities Bill, 2019 — now before the state assembly — lists several conditions for setting up such institutions, including following a common curriculum. Among them is the condition that promoters of private universities give an undertaking that the institution will not be involved in or permit anyone to “cause or promote anti-national activities” on the campus. If any such activity takes place, it shall be considered a major violation of the conditions for setting up the university, the draft legislation warns. The government may then take action according to the provisions under the Act or any other law in force, it says. The bill is meant to be an umbrella legislation to govern all private universities. A statement on the objectives of the bill said 27 private universities have been established and incorporated under different state Acts. This means there is no uniform law to monitor such private universities, it added. It has become difficult to collect information and ensure quality standards in higher education, the government said. The draft bill was approved by the state cabinet recently. An official had then said the universities will have to ensure that patriotism, national integration, communal amity, social harmony, secularism, ethics and international goodwill are included in the curriculum.