Draft UGC regulations are an attempt to push RSS agenda, alleges Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged on Thursday that the draft regulations of the University Grants Commission were a part of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s agenda to impose one history, tradition and language on the country.

At a protest against the regulations organised by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Gandhi claimed that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ideological parent of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, wants to eradicate all other histories, cultures, and traditions, except those aligned with its beliefs.

“We have to respect all the languages, all the cultures, all the traditions, all the histories and we have to understand where they are coming from,” he said.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, who also attended the protest, claimed that the New Education Policy was a “conspiracy to hand over universities to industrialists”. He alleged that the Centre “wants to take away all the powers of state governments”.

The draft UGC regulations have been framed in consonance with the National Education Policy of 2020.

The Union government released the draft rules on January 6 for feedback. The proposed rules would apply to central, state, private and deemed universities.

Among other changes, they propose revising the process for appointing teaching and administrative staff and granting chancellors more authority in selecting vice chancellors.

In most state-run universities, the chancellor is the governor, who is appointed by…

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