Author: Santanu Banerjee
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: December 7, 2005
The National Commission for Minority Educational
Institutions (Amendment) Bill, 2005, undermines the state governments' authority
to investigate and come up with reports on the aspiring applicants trying
to set up such institutions.
This was forcefully argued by Rajya Sabha
Member Ravi Shankar Prasad in his note of dissent in the Parliamentary Standing
Committee's 167th report on the National Commission for Minority Educational
Institutions (Amendment) Bill, 2005, presented to Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
The note of dissent by Mr Prasad took up the
issue strongly against undermining state governments' role in investigating
into the actual source of funding and the question of national security involve
in granting permission for setting up minority educational institutions.
Interestingly, the bill was introduced earlier
this year to address the grievances of the minorities on the issue of their
right to establish a minority educational institution.
The note says it is obligatory for the scheduled
universities to consult the state and consider its opinion before granting
affiliation. As only the state government through its various agencies has
"the capacity to discover the source of funding and the background of
the people who have promoted the institutions in question", the note
points out.
This provision is diluted in the amended Bill
which opens up a dangerous avenue of such institutes being misused by the
fundamentalist forces, hints the note of dissent.
It is important to note that the states like
West Bengal, Tripura and Assam, bordering Bangladesh may face a severe problem
if the Bill is implemented without giving these views serious consideration.
The note, which may not find favour in the
Arjun Singh-headed Union HRD Ministry, raised a pertinent point that while
minorities' right to establish and administer their own institutions should
be encouraged, the issue of national security cannot be triffiled with terrorist
violence "sponsored by forces from across the border" going up.
The note of dissent included in the Standing
Committee report, asked the Union HRD Ministry for "some suitable provision
to ensure that any particular institution seeking protection and affiliation
under the Act may not become a front of some terrorist operation".
The note of dissent assumes a special significance
in view of West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's serious views
about the activities of madarsas in the nine bordering districts a few years
back. It is a different issue that after giving a grim public warning on their
activities, Mr Bhattacharjee officially denied his statement next day as his
revelations apparently annoyed both the State and central leadership.
But sources confirm that notwithstanding the
denial, the Chief Minister's Office monitors the activities of the madarsas
in nine bordering districts hit by infiltration from Bangladesh.
However, the Standing Committee stuck down
the clause of the Act and suggestion from the panel that MEIs be allowed to
seek affiliation of university of its choice. The panel said it has a "strong
apprehension about allowing MEIs to seek affiliation of their choice".
Rather it recommended some kind of restriction regarding geographical contiguity
or state boundary which must be provided in the Bill.
The Standing Committee also did not like the
idea of giving the panel an unrestricted right to intervene in court cases
within its jurisdiction either. Instead, the Standing Committee recommended
that "the intervention of the Commission in court proceedings might be
restricted to those cases only where the courts demand it".
