Congress selling lies about UGC hiring norms, practice of governors appointing VCs very old: Dharmendra Pradhan

New Delhi: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan Monday attacked the Congress, accusing it of "selling lies" about the draft recruitment norms rolled out by the UGC and said the practice of governors appointing university vice-chancellors has been going on even before Independence.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) released the draft regulations last week, proposing a major overhaul in the recruitment of assistant professors and vice-chancellors.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge had alleged that the UGC draft regulations, 2025, give state governors extensive control over vice-chancellor appointments and allow non-academics to hold these posts and termed it a "direct attack on federalism and state rights".

According to the draft regulations, industry experts, as well as senior professionals from public administration, public policy and public sector undertakings, might soon be eligible for appointment as vice-chancellors. The draft norms have also given power to chancellors or visitors to constitute the three-member search-cum-selection committee to appoint vice-chancellors.

"Whether it is UGC Regulations 2010, 2018 or the current UGC Regulations of 2025, it is clear in all that the chancellor or visitor appoints the vice-chancellor. As far as the discharge of the responsibilities of appointing vice-chancellors by the governors is concerned, this is a practice that has been going on even before Independence.

"The selection committee structure of UGC Regulations 2025 is actually the format of UGC Regulations 2010. In this, a selection committee has been formed for the appointment of teachers and other academic staff and to maintain high standards," Pradhan wrote in a post on X.

Accusing the Congress of "selling lies", the minister said, "The Congress can never accept that the youth of the country should be educated and the country should develop. That is why spreading confusion on issues like education, misleading the youth and wanting to spread unrest in the country has become the policy of the entire Congress party, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge".

"The Congress party has a problem with the 'National Education Policy' which has been wholeheartedly accepted by all sections of the country, including the youth because it has elements of Indianness. This is the same party which weakened the Indian education system and worked to erase our glorious cultural heritage from the textbooks while being in power for decades.

"Therefore, without understanding the facts, the Congress party should change its policy of criticizing just for the sake of criticism and stop worrying about one family and worry about the youth of the country," Pradhan added.