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A National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions is being set up to advise the Central Government or any State government on any question regarding the education of Minorities, to look into the complaints regarding violation of the rights of the minorities, to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice and to permit a minority educational institution to seek direct affiliation to a scheduled Central University.
To enable the setting up of such a Commission, an Ordinance, No. 6 of 2004, was promulgated on Thursday the November 11, 2004. The Commission will be chaired by a retired judge of a High Court and will have two other members. The functions of the Commission would be as follows:
1)
Advise the Central Government or any State government on any question relating to the education of minorities, that may be referred to it;
2)
Look into specific complaints regarding deprivation or violation of the rights of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice, and any dispute regarding affiliation to a Scheduled University and report its findings to the Central Government for implementation; and
3)
To do such acts and things as may be necessary, incidental or conducive to the attainment of all or any of the objects of the Commission.
The Commission would also be the Appellate Authority for resolving all disputes regarding affiliation that may arise between a University and Minority Educational Institutions.
The setting up of the Commission fulfills an important commitment in the National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP) that "the UPA will amend the Constitution to establish a Commission for Minority Educational Institutions that will provide direct affiliation to minority professional institutions to Central Universities." On examination, it was found that it was not necessary to amend the Constitution as the purpose can be achieved by suitable legislation. The Ordinance seeks to achieve this purpose. Apart from the issue of affiliation, the Commission has a wider mandate as explained above.
It may also be mentioned that this issue was widely discussed through a series of meetings and seminars on Minority Educational Institutions beginning with a Dialogue on Minority Welfare and Education on 3 – 4 July 2004 at Vigyan Bhavan, which was inaugurated by the Prime Minister. Subsequently, the National Minority Committee for Minority Education had also discussed this issue. The Ordinance reflects the consensus emerging from these deliberations. It is expected that the setting up of the Commission will give a greater focus to the issue of minority education as also make the implementation of the constitutional provisions in these regards more effective. The Ordinance provides that the Government will separately notify the Commission. It is
expected that the notification would be issued shortly.
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