The UPA-2’s educational reforms agenda has suffered a major setback as Union human resources development minister Kapil Sibal was unable to push any major bill concerning his ministry through Parliament during the recently concluded Monsoon Session.
Several important bills like the Educational Tribunals Bill, Foreign Education Institutions (Regulation of Entry and Operations) Bill 2010 and the high-profile National Academic Depository (Amendment) Bill, 2011, are still pending before Parliament. With only one legislation proposing amendment to the Natio-nal Council for Teachers Education was approved in the last session. This, despite the fact that Mr Sibal had worked overtime to placate Congress MPs and Opposition members to ensure that their queries regarding various pending bills were resolved and his education reform agenda gets is through during the recently concluded session.
It is understood that currently there are about 10 bills that are at the various stages of legislative and consultation process in Parliament and the delay in their clearance has pushed the educational reform agenda back by several years.
Sources said the ministry is now likely to engage in another round of talks with MPs to ensure that these bills are passed in the Winter Session of Parliament. Several of these bills had come under sharp attack from the Opposition and ruling party members ever since they were first introduced in 2010 Monsoon Session.
The non-clearance of the pending bills also meant that the HRD ministry was unable to introduce two more important bills — the National Council for Higher Education and Research Bill, 2011 and the Universities for Innovation Bill, 2011 — in Parliament.