NEW DELHI: The CPM said on Thursday it will oppose the government’s bid to replace the University Grants Commission (UGC) Act with the proposed Higher Education Commission of India in Parliament and termed the move as an attempt to control funding and academic content of institutions of higher learning.

Party general secretary Sitaram Yechury wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing concern over how the government’s plan to replace the University Grants Commission (UGC) with a new body would adversely affect higher education in India, like an “external enemy” destroying a country. Opposing the Draft Bill, Yechury also asked the PM to hold wider consultations with all stakeholders rather than rushing the legislation to parliament.

CPM also said it will forge a platform of like-minded secular, democratic forces to oppose the Draft Bill in its current form. “Education is being reduced to being profit-making shops. The whole effort is to change the curricula and the study of history is being reduced to being the study of Hindu mythology,” Yechury said.

Alleging that the Bill would directly impact the accessibility of higher education to all sections of society, Yechury said Dalits, tribals and backward classes would not be able to afford education if the changes proposed by the government were to go through. “Government wants to control both in terms of funding and academic content. Instead of promoting scientific temper, though, as is laid down in the Constitution of India, the BJP-RSS government is pushing for a complete communalisation of the education system,” Yechury said. He also said he was hopeful that all secular democratic parties — especially those who fought against social inequity — would join the protests.

Former MP and CPM politburo member Nilotpal Basu also said that the government has not while pushing for the replacement of the UGC Act, be able to provide ample justifications for the move. “There is a case for amending the provisions of the UGC Act, 1956 and strengthening the UGC... However, there is no case for dismantling the UGC and fragmenting the functions of regulatory bodies.”

The Left leader also said that the draft Bill is an “instrument to appease corporate interests” and attract private sector investment in higher education by neglecting the challenges that confront public-funded higher educational institutions.

