State Education Minister Ramanlal Vora moved the Gujarat Private Universities Bill, 2009, seeking to set up private universities, in the Legislative Assembly here on Thursday.

The bill emphasises to provide for qualitative and industry-relevant higher education and to regulate their operations in the state. Speaking about the objectives of the bill, the minister said that making available higher education of international standards to the students at their doorstep was urgently required in view of the knowledge expansion owing to globalisation.

Stating it was necessary to promote private universities on self-finance basis run by trusts or private bodies, the minister said that a law to regulate the functions of private universities and to bring uniformity in their formation was required and hence, this bill.

Senior Congress leader Arjun Modhwadia opposed the moving of the bill, saying that setting up of universities and granting them permission was in the concurrent list and hence not within the jurisdiction of the state assembly.

The Speaker, however, ruled that the state assembly had the jurisdiction and powers to bring such a bill and allowed the minister to move it.

In a constructive debate on the issue, Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee president and MLA from Dabhoi, Siddharth Patel, said there were already 38 universities in the state and 30-40 more universities were likely to come in the next four to five years. So, there were no two opinions about the need of a bill to regulate private universities.

But, he added, it was highly important for the state government to make clear about its role in control and regulations of the private universities keeping in view the larger interest of students and the quality of higher education in the state.

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