Centre aims to sideline state govts entirely from administration of universities through draft UGC regulations: Pinarayi Vijayan

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan lashed out at the Union government, alleging that it is using the placement of higher education in the concurrent list not just to undermine the role of state governments in administering higher education, but to sideline them entirely.

He made these remarks while inaugurating the National Convention on Draft UGC Regulations, 2025, hosted by Kerala, which saw the participation of ministers from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Telangana, along with officials from Jharkhand.

“As soon as the Draft UGC Regulations 2025 became public, the anti-federal and anti-democratic content which would have ruinous effects on the entire country’s higher education sector was evident. Therefore, the Kerala Legislative Assembly unanimously passed a resolution urging the Union government to withdraw them. We also called upon the Union government to engage in detailed discussions with all stakeholders, taking their opinions seriously, before issuing new guidelines,” Vijayan said.

Notably, the state had appointed a five-member committee led by Prof Prabhat Patnaik to formulate Kerala’s views on the regulations and respond to the UGC. The committee had reported the primary issue with the draft regulations as they do not envisage any role for the state governments in the appointment of the vice chancellors of public universities established under State Acts and thus impinge on the legitimate rights of the states in a federal setup. 

“In the selection process of vice chancellors, all powers are sought to be vested in the Chancellor, by taking away the function of constituting the search-cum-selection committee from the higher education departments. If the chancellor can appoint anyone from a panel, undoubtedly, the appointment will be at the behest of the political powers that have appointed the governor, as in almost all state universities, governors are chancellors. In that sense, the draft regulations are against the basic federal principles enshrined in the Constitution,” said the CM.

Notably, the Kerala government had a tumultuous relationship with Raj Bhavan during Arif Mohammad Khan's tenure as governor. In contrast, the new governor, Rajendra Arlekar, has so far maintained a cordial relationship with the state executive.

Reflecting on past conflicts with the former governor, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said, “Following political interventions by the gubernatorial office in the administration of state universities as their chancellor, the Kerala Legislative Assembly passed bills aimed at curbing such excesses. However, several of these bills were stalled, undermining the autonomy of the Legislature. This forced us to approach the Supreme Court. When the Court objected to these extra-constitutional practices, some bills were promptly granted assent, while the others were forwarded to the President. This clearly revealed that the gubernatorial office was being used for political motives, particularly in the administration of state universities.”

The Chief Minister also criticised the draft regulation's proposal to allow non-academics to be eligible for appointment as vice chancellors. “According to the draft regulations, non-academics who have served for at least 10 years at a senior level in industry, public administration, public policy and/or public sector undertakings, with a proven track record of significant academic or scholarly contributions, can be appointed as VCs.

 There is every possibility of the present political dispensation at the centre using this provision as a camouflage, behind which people of academic excellence will be substituted by people of political choice, as has happened in many of our iconic institutions, ranging from the Pune Film Institute to the ICHR. Such politically motivated interventions can seriously impinge upon the standards of higher education in the country.”

Post-convention, Kerala Higher Education Minister R. Bindu said that the national convention had a unanimous stance that the new UGC draft erodes the powers of state governments and undermines the autonomy of universities. As a continuation of the convention in Kerala, a similar event will be organized in Telangana, she added. The minister also stated that the issue would be taken directly to the prime minister to express their concerns. The convention passed a resolution demanding the withdrawal of the draft, she said.