HP again passes Bill to have govt say in appointment of VCs

Time of India

2 days ago

Shimla: Amidst the ongoing tussle between the Congress govt and governor Shiv Pratap
in Himachal Pradesh over the appointment of vice-chancellors of two universities in Solan and Palampur, the legislative assembly on Tuesday again passed The Himachal Pradesh Universities of Agriculture, Horticulture and Forestry (Amendment) Bill, 2023 without any amendment, insisting that the democratically elected govt must have a role in the appointment of the VCs.
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Himachal Vidhan Sabha members did not show any interest in Shukla's recommendation to amend the 2023 Bill in line with the central govt's Model Act for Higher Agricultural Educational Institutions in India, wherein the governor as chancellor appoints the VCs on the search committee's recommendations.
When Himachal Vidhan Sabha again passed this Bill on Tuesday, without carrying out any changes in the document passed earlier on Sept 21, 2023, the opposition BJP legislators had already left the House in protest over the issue of defying legislative assembly traditions and democratic norms.
The Bill, presented by agriculture minister Chander Kumar, provides that the governor, functioning as chancellor of universities, shall appoint the VCs "on the aid and advice of the govt" since the state govt issues grant-in-aid to these institutions.
Until now, the VCs were appointed by the chancellor on the recommendations of a selection committee comprising a nominee of the chancellor, director general of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, and the chairperson of the Universities Grants Commission or his nominee.
Earlier, the Amendment Bill was sent to the governor for assent in 2023. As it was pending for a long time, Himachal assembly passed The Himachal Pradesh Universities of Agriculture, Horticulture and Forestry (Amendment) Bill, 2024 on Sept 4, 2024, with almost the same contents as the Amendment Bill, 2023. This Bill was sent to the governor for assent on Oct 19, 2024, but the governor observed that the Amendment Bill, 2023, was reserved for consideration of the President on July 24, 2024, and it was not appropriate to take action on the Amendment Bill, 2024, until any decision was received by the central govt on the Amendment Bill, 2023.
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Why was the Bill returned?
Later, the governor referred back the Amendment Bill, 2023 to the state govt with the observation that the state govt should carry out an amendment in the Bill as per Section 4.3(1) of the Model Act for Higher Agricultural Educational Institutions in India (Revised 2023). The section says that the VC "shall be appointed by the chancellor from the panel of eminent educationists in agricultural and allied sciences drawn by the search committee".
But the council of ministers in its meeting on July 29 decided to withdraw the Amendment Bill, 2024, and to move a resolution for consideration of Vidhan Sabha "to again pass the Amendment Bill, 2023".
Now, this Bill passed on Tuesday will again be sent to the governor for his assent. Article 200 of the Constitution 'Assent to Bills' reads: "…when a Bill is so returned, the House or Houses shall reconsider the Bill accordingly, and if the Bill is passed again by the House or Houses with or without amendment and presented to the governor for assent, the governor shall not withhold assent therefrom."
Ruckus in House
Himachal Vidhan Sabha proceedings on the second day of the 12-day monsoon session witnessed commotion as the opposition and treasury benches accused each other of defying all traditions of the House as well as the democratic norms.
The accusations reached such a point that speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania was forced to adjourn the House for five minutes as the opposition legislators raised slogans to object to revenue minister Jagat Singh Negi's claims that leader of opposition Jai Ram Thakur broke all democratic traditions when he was the chief minister.
As the House re-assembled, speaker Pathania ruled that anything which was against the prestige of any member of the House would not be part of Vidhan Sabha record. Later, the BJP MLAs said they would boycott the revenue minister in assembly, alleging that he made baseless allegations against the leader of the opposition as well as the Prime Minister.
Earlier, the opposition MLAs strongly condemned the delay in payments to hospitals under the Himcare Scheme and stepped out of the House.
125 units of power free
Chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, while replying to a question, clarified that the state govt had not stopped the 125 units free power subsidy, started by the previous BJP govt, to anyone in the state even if a person had 10 or 50 electricity meters in his name.
He said on the state govt's appeal, 12,000-15,000 people in Himachal had given up electricity subsidy to date. Power subsidy to only those people using commercial power meters or income tax payers has been stopped, he added.
Responding to BJP MLA Sudhir Sharma, the CM said in future the state govt would also focus on giving 300 units of free electricity depending upon the challenges and capabilities of the govt.
Rs 364 crore pending under Himcare
Health and family welfare minister Colonel Dhani Ram Shandil (retd) agreed to BJP MLA Randhir Sharma's statement that the Himachal govt was yet to clear Rs 364.20 crore to various health institutions under the Himcare health scheme, which provides cashless medical treatment up to Rs 5 lakh per year to a family.
He said the state govt had not stopped the Himcare scheme in the state and also there were 25 private health institutes where this scheme was in operation.
BJP MLA Vinod Kumar claimed that patients were not being treated in many govt hospitals under the Himcare scheme and they were forced to mortgage their valuables for treatment.
The CM intervened to say that the Congress govt spent Rs 550 crore under the scheme but claimed that they detected large-scale irregularities in the Himcare scheme during the previous BJP govt.