Parliament passes Bill to set up Central Tribal University in Telangana

New Delhi: Parliament on Wednesday accorded approval to a Bill to establish the Sammakka Sarakka Central Tribal University in Telangana after a nod from the Rajya Sabha.

The Rajya Sabha passed The Central Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2023, by voice vote.

The Opposition members had staged a walkout to press for their demand for a statement from Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the security breach in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday afternoon.

The Central Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2023, was cleared by the Lok Sabha last week.

Replying to the debate, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the establishment of a central tribal university in Telangana is obligatory under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014.

Meanwhile, Congress Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh taking a swipe at the government in a post on X said, “Today the Rajya Sabha passed the Central Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2023 that provides for a Central Tribal University in Telangana.

“Item 3 of Schedule 13 of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 mandated the establishment of a Central Tribal University in Telangana.

“For nine years the Modi Government did nothing! Suddenly on October 1, 2023 in one of his election speeches in the state, the Prime Minister announced that such a tribal university was going to be created in Telangana.”

He said that the Central Tribal University in Telangana will be the 57th Central University, 85 per cent of which were already set up before 2014.

“The very first Central Universities Act was passed in 2009 in which 16 new universities were created. Today's Bill is a simple addition to this Act. Faculty shortages in these Central Universities are widespread. Almost one-third of all faculty positions are vacant.

“Dropout rates of students, especially those belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and OBCs are also unacceptably high,” he said.

“A few days earlier, the Modi Government admitted in the Lok Sabha that in the last five years some 10,000 students from these communities dropped out from Central Universities,” Ramesh added.