NE NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, MAR 31
The Gujarat Legislative Assembly on Wednesday passed a bill sanctioning seven new private universities in the state which will pave the way for the first all-women varsity in the state, Education Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama said.
Other bills cleared by the House included mandating unaided Ayurveda, Homeopathy and Naturopathy colleges to fill in 15 percent government reserved seats based on a Central merit list.
The Gujarat Private Universities (Amendment) Bill was passed by a majority vote, while Gujarat Professional Medical Education Colleges or Institutions (Regulation of Admission and Fixation of Fees) (Amendment) Bill and Gujarat Panchayats (Amendment) Bill was passed unanimously.
The Gujarat Private Universities (Amendment) Bill seeks to include seven new private universities in the state and to change the sponsoring body of an existing private university.
“For the first time, Gujarat will get a women-only university named ”Vanita Vishram Women’s University,” Chudasama said while tabling the bill.
Other provisions of the Act were amended to “have transparent working and good governance in the education sector by minimising the regulatory compliance burden”.
“From 11 universities in 2001, there are now 83 universities in Gujarat, including those specific to certain sectors,” Chudasama said.
The Gujarat Professional Medical Education Colleges or Institutions (Regulation of Admission and Fixation of Fees) (Amendment) Bill mandates unaided colleges or institutions in the disciplines of Ayurveda, Homeopathy, and Naturopathy to fill in15 percent of government seats based on a merit list prepared by the Central government authority.
This step is required due to the regulation of centralised counselling for admission to the AYUSH under UG and PG courses, Health Minister Nitin patel said while tabling the bill.
“With this, 889 seats out of the total 5,929 seats in 65 such institutes in Gujarat will be filled through the Central quota,” he said.
The Gujarat Panchayats (Amendment) Bill, 2021, tabled by Panchayat Minister Jaydratsinh Parmar, seeks to bring uniformity in the recruitment of class 3 employees of panchayat service through the Gujarat Panchayat Service Selection Board (GPSSB) rather than through the District Panchayat Service Selection Committee, as is the case.
The district-level committees will only recruit specific classes of posts, with a member of the GPSSB being its chairman, and the president of the district panchayat and a state government nominee as its members,as per the provisions of this bill.
With the amendment, the government may also appoint in each district the District Primary Education Staff Selection Committee for the recruitment of primary teachers, it said.
