New Delhi, Nov. 25: A key Parliament panel has opposed the “minority” label for universities, arguing this may allow institutions to bypass mandatory norms required for varsities.

The standing committee on human resource development has asked the HRD ministry to re-examine a proposed amendment to include universities under the definition of minority institutions, in a report tabled in Parliament today.

The criticism from the committee comes as a setback to efforts by the ministry to get Parliament to pass amendments to the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions (NCMEI) Act.

The NCMEI was set up in 2004 by the UPA as India’s apex authority to resolve concerns of minority educational institutions — especially in the aftermath of NDA rule.

The NCMEI act at present defines minority educational institutions as “a college or institution (other than a university) established or maintained by a person or group of persons from among minorities”.

As a consequence, universities at present cannot seek minority status. The Supreme Court is hearing a case on the minority status of Aligarh Muslim University.

As reported by The Telegraph on March 8, 2008, the ministry decided to amend the law to delete “other than a university” from the definition of the minority educational institutions. The amendment would allow universities to claim minority status.

But the Parliament panel — which includes Rahul Gandhi — has expressed concerns that the proposed amendment allowing the NCMEI to grant minority status to universities may be misused.

Under the NCMEI act at present, new institutions can apply for a no-objection certificate for minority status to the NCMEI and can assume no objections if they do not receive a response in 90 days.

The standing committee has argued that following the proposed amendment, brand new institutions can start as minority universities in violation of the University Grants Commission Act and the UGC’s norms.

Universities — including the privately owned ones — can be set up in India only through acts of Parliament or a state legislature.

The standing committee has expressed fears that the amendment will allow minority universities to come up through the NCMEI act, bypassing central or state legislatures.

At present, the NCMEI deals almost exclusively with the concerns of institutions run by religious minorities.

The commission forwards petitions from linguistic minorities to the commissioner of linguistic minorities at Allahabad for action.

The Parliament panel has suggested that the NCMEI also take up petitions from linguistic minorities.