The Indian Parliament Thursday passed a bill which seeks to give more powers to the National Commission for Minorities Educational Institutions (NCMEI) and makes it easier for minority-run bodies to get recognition.
Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal while replying to the debate in the Rajya Sabha (Upper House of Parliament) on the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions (Amendment) Bill, 2010, said it was a
"procedural Act" which allows an institution to approach the NCMEI directly in case a state government rejects its appeal for seeking the status of a minority institution.
Allaying fears of members including Chandan Mitra and Rama Jois of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) who alleged that the legislation was a political move to appease
minorities and could divide the social fabric, Sibal said it does not have a mandate to go beyond the framed guidelines for setting up educational institutions.
The bill, already passed by the Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament), seeks to overcome the difficulties which the Commission faced after it came into being.
The measure expands the number of members of the commission to three from two besides a Chairman.
Moreover, the process of getting a No Objection Certificate for setting up a minority educational institution from the state governments has been simplified. NoC will be
automatically given now if there is no law in the state concerned governing these institutions.
For deciding on the status of the minority educational institution, the process of consultation with the state government has been done away with in the Bill. The state government would now only be a party in certain cases before
the Commission.
"The coming up of so many universities and institutions only goes on to show that the young population is growing at a fast pace and there is no space to adjust them. We are only creating space for them, especially young Muslim population," Sibal said.
He said the government had held national-level
consultations with all stakeholders before framing the legislation.