Amid Tribhuvan varsity bill in Lok Sabha, Opposition accuses BJP of 'centralisation of power'

TMC MP Saugata Roy although welcomed the move to name the university after Tribhuvan Das Patel, who is considered the father of the cooperative movement, he said the institution should have academic, administrative and managerial autonomy.

New Delhi: Opposition members on Wednesday urged the Centre to ensure the autonomy of the proposed 'Tribhuvan Sahkari University' in Gujarat's Anand, even though they alleged the BJP government believes in centralisation of power rather than autonomy.

Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah moved the 'Tribhuvan Sahkari University' Bill in Lok Sabha for its consideration. The bill proposes to grant a university status to the Institute of Rural Management in Anand, Gujarat as 'Tribhuvan Sahkari University' and declare it an institution of national importance.

The bill was introduced in Lok Sabha on Monday.

Participating in the discussion after it was moved by the home minister for consideration on Wednesday, TMC MP Saugata Roy alleged the BJP government does not believe in autonomy, but in centralisation of powers.

Though Roy welcomed the move to name the university after Tribhuvan Das Patel, who is considered the father of the cooperative movement, he said the institution should have academic, administrative and managerial autonomy.

Roy also took a dig at the ruling party, saying that Tribhuvan Das was a member of the Congress, not the BJP, and was given the Padma award by the Nehru government.

The MP also hailed the contribution of Verghese Kurien in strengthening the cooperative sector.

The Samajwadi Party's Virendra Singh also expressed apprehension about the alleged weakening of autonomous institutions through this bill and said the government should give clear information about the appointment of the Vice Chancellor of the institute, appointment of members of the Board of Directors, etc. in this bill.

Ganiben Thakor, Congress member from the Banaskantha parliamentary constituency of Gujarat, said the bill is a matter of pride for her home state.

Mitesh Patel, the BJP MP from Anand, said the White Revolution was started in his parliamentary constituency under the leadership of Tribhuvan Das Patel and today Amul has become the world's largest milk producing cooperative.

Mitesh Patel said naming the university after Tribhuvan Das Patel honours his and others' contribution to the cooperative sector.

He said that when Amul started, it used to produce 250 litres of milk a day, whereas today it has reached the level of 60 lakh tonnes.

Patel expressed confidence that the university will play an important role in achieving Prime Minister Narendra Modi's goal of a self-reliant and developed India.

Taking a dig at the Congress, he said the establishment of the first cooperative training institute after 75 years of Independence shows how "irresponsible" were those who were in power for a long time in the country.

The Telugu Desam Party's M Sribharat said more states will come forward to open such institutes after the passage of this bill to establish the Tribhuvan Sahkari University. According to the Bill, the present education and training infrastructure in the co-operative sector is "fragmented and grossly inadequate" to meet the present and future demand for qualified manpower and capacity building of existing employees in co-operative societies.

The bill said it is essential that a comprehensive, integrated and standardised structure is created for education, training and research by establishing a national university to ensure a stable, adequate and quality supply of professionally qualified manpower for different categories of jobs in co-operatives such as managerial, supervisory, administrative, technical and operational.

The proposed university will also address the long pending issue of capacity building of employees and board members in the co-operative sector in a pan-India and focused manner.