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‘One-sided monologue, no discussion': Harjot Bains terms Centre's NEP event in Delhi ‘disappointing'

‘One-sided monologue, no discussion': Harjot Bains terms Centre's NEP event in Delhi ‘disappointing'

Indian Express2 days ago
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan Tuesday virtually laid the foundation stone of infrastructure projects worth Rs 200.99 crore at the Central University of Punjab (CUP), Bathinda, an event that Punjab Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains said was 'disappointing' and a 'one-sided monologue'.
Pradhan laid the stone during the Akhil Bharatiya Shiksha Samagam 2025 (ABSS-2025) in New Delhi, commemorating the fifth anniversary of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. Bains attended the event in Delhi along with CUP Vice-Chancellor Prof Raghavendra P Tiwari.
The Union minister virtually laid the foundation stone for five infrastructure projects, funded through the Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA). These include academic block, 600-seater boys hostel, 400-seater girls hostel, 100-seater international students hostel and V-C's residence.
Several of these buildings are designed in compliance with GRIHA-IV norms, incorporating green, energy-efficient, and sustainable features such as sensor-based lighting, solar energy systems, aseismic structures, zero-waste water systems, and full accessibility for differently abled persons.
Addressing the gathering virtually, Pradhan said, 'NEP 2020 has reached classrooms, campuses, and communities, ushering reforms in early childhood care, foundational literacy, and holistic education'.
He lauded the proactive role of higher education institutions in implementing NEP 2020, particularly in advancing multidisciplinary education, digital inclusion, skill development, and inclusive learning. He highlighted the notable improvements in rural learning outcomes through initiatives like the NIPUN Bharat Mission and emphasized that this progress is the result of collective efforts by educators, students, institutions, and state governments.
V-C Tiwari said that these developmental projects will propel CUP towards becoming a world-class institution with state-of-the-art facilities for teaching, research, and student well-being.
Bains, however, said that as Punjab's education minister he was 'deeply disappointed' by the event held at Bharat Mandapam in Delhi. 'Education Ministers from across India were invited—but the entire event turned into a one-sided monologue. No discussion at all. This should have been a platform to address: attacks on regional languages like CBSE excluding Punjabi as a main subject (reversed only after Punjab's strong protest). NEP's deeper agenda of eroding states' rights. No national roadmap for AI, coding, data science in education,' Bains said in a post on X.
Talking about the July 25 roof collapse at a school in Rajasthan's Jhalawar in which seven students were killed, Bains said it was 'most painful' that there neither was any mention of the incident nor any dialogue on preventing such incidents. 'Such events, without honest dialogue on education, remain ceremonial—not transformational,' he added.
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