New law to regulate private universities

SHILLONG: In order to regulate private universities operating in the state, the State Government has decided to repeal the Meghalaya Private University Regulation of Establishment and maintenance of Standard Act, 2012.
The Cabinet decided to come up with a new law which will be known as Meghalaya Private University Regulation of Establishment and Maintenance of Standard Bill, 2019 and it will be introduced in the upcoming Assembly session.
Speaking to media persons after the meeting, Home Minister, James Sangma said that the Cabinet felt that there was not enough teeth in the old Act and it was decided to enact a new law.
“The Education Department has taken note of this while drafting the new bill,” he said.
According to Sangma, in the past there were instances when certain universities were awarding degrees to students from other campuses but as per the new act, the universities should issue degrees only from their main campuses.
He added that the new Bill has been enacted in order to regulate private universities in a much better way besides conforming to the observations of the Supreme Court made in a particular case.
When asked about private universities opening their off campuses, he said that the state government can even close down the centres if it does not conform to the laws. The government also has the right to reject such applications, he stated.
As the state will now have a new law to regulate private universities, the Cabinet also amended the eight acts including CMJ University Act, William Carey University Act, Martin Luther Christian University Act, University of Technology and Management Act, University of Science and Technology Management Act, ICFAI Act and Mahatma Gandhi University Act.