Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has said that any private university planning to start operations in the state will have to first mandatorily obtain a “national security clearance” from the state government.
The chief minister said the decision was prompted by the controversy surrounding the University of Science and Technology Meghalaya (USTM) and its chancellor Mahbubul Hoque.
“For setting up a private university in Assam, a national security clearance will be required from the Home and Political Department. Only after getting the mandatory nod, one will be allowed to set up a private varsity,” he said.
He said that the private university will also have to conform to two more conditions — it has to be secular and should not indulge in any activity related to conversion.
Sarma announced that the Cabinet decided to make the Assam Private Universities Act 2007 more stringent by making a “national security clearance” issued by the state government’s Home and Political Department a necessary prerequisite for setting up a private university.
“We have decided to tighten the norms to set up private universities. Accordingly, the cabinet has approved an amendment of the Assam Private Universities Act 2007,” he added.
Sarma had in August last year held USTM and Hoque responsible for “flood jihad” against Guwahati, claiming that the water flowing down from the varsity campus, which is located on a hill adjacent to the city, had led to repeated massive flooding.
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Last month, USTM owner and chancellor Mahbubul Hoque was arrested by Assam Police on charges of promising students to allow unfair means in exams to score high marks through his ERD Foundation, which runs various educational institutions, including a school at Patharkandi in Sribhumi district of Assam.
