Updated on Friday, July 03, 2009, 23:37 IST

Ahmedabad, July 03: Gujarat Assembly on Friday unanimously passed a bill on establishing private universities in the state.

"Many institutions have approached the state government to allow them to enter in the field of qualitative higher education of international standards and make it available to the students in the state at their doorsteps," the Gujarat Private Universities Bill states.

State Education Minister Ramanlal Vora, who introduced the bill yesterday, said that private universities to be set up would bring in quality in the education standards of Gujarat.

There are six private universities in the state and four new universities will be set up after the bill becomes an Act, he said.

However, leader of Opposition Shaktisinh Gohil said there were a number of issues concerning various aspects of private universities that need to be addressed first.

In his speech, Gohil objected to a provision regarding appointment of an industrialist on the governing board of any private university to be set up.

"Instead of an industrialist, the government should make a provision to appoint a local MLA as member in the governing board of the university," he said.

Gohil also stressed on the need for proper regulatory mechanism for universities once they are set up.

Any existing institute, college or a group of institutes, which are affiliated to any government university and are taking grants from the University Grants Commission (UGC), should not be allowed to become self financed private university, he said.

"The government should allow only new institutes and not existing ones because they have readily been taking grants from the UGC," Gohil added.

Bureau Report