New Delhi, November 11
In a bid to woo minority communities, the Congress led UPA government today decided to promulgate an ordinance for creating a national commission for minority educational institutions which would grant direct affiliation to minority educational institutions to a scheduled university.
The establishment of the commission would help safeguard constitutional guarantee to minorities regarding setting up and administering educational institutions of their choice, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said after a meeting of the Union Cabinet.
The three-member commission would comprise three members. All should, as far as possible, be chosen from among the minority communities.
The term of the members of the commission, including the chairman, who should be a judge of a high court would be five years. The members should be persons of eminence, ability and integrity, according to the Cabinet decision.
The commission would advise the central or state government on any question relating to education of minorities that may be referred to it.
It would also look into specific complaints regarding deprivation or violation of rights of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice, any dispute regarding affiliation to a scheduled university and report its findings to the Centre for its implementation.
The scheduled university for the purposes of the ordinance includes six affiliating central universities — University of Delhi, North Eastern Hill University, Pondicherry University, Assam University, Nagaland University and Mizoram University.
