Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday strongly criticised the New Education Policy (NEP), labelling it a “conspiracy” to transfer control of universities to industrialists.
Addressing a protest by the DMK students’ wing against the University Grants Commission (UGC) draft rules in Delhi on Thursday, Yadav expressed his party’s firm opposition to the policy.
The SP leader declared, “Samajwadi Party supports this protest against the New Education Policy that the central government is bringing,” and reiterated that his party would never back the policy.
Yadav invoked former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s warning about the dangers of excessive support for industrialists, suggesting that such alignment would eventually reduce politicians to mere “servants” of the industrialists.
He claimed that the NEP was an attempt to reduce state power and hand control of universities to industrialists.
"Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the former PM, once said that if you keep supporting industrialists, one day will come when you'll become the servants of industrialists.
This New Education Policy is a conspiracy to give the universities to the industrialists. They want to take over all the powers of the state government," Yadav remarked.
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He added that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seeks to make politicians and politics subservient to industrialists. “We will never support the New Education Policy. They want to take all the powers from state governments. We can never agree to this," he stated.
Congratulating the youth wing of the DMK for their protest, which saw participants travel from Tamil Nadu, Yadav expressed solidarity, stating, “Even North Indian students will support you in this protest.”
Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) General Secretary Vaiko also participated in the demonstration.
Meanwhile, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi was expected to join the DMK Youth Wing’s protest later that day.
In January, the Tamil Nadu Assembly passed a resolution urging the withdrawal of the UGC draft rules, which were perceived to undermine federalism and impact Tamil Nadu’s higher education system. Chief Minister M K Stalin had labelled the draft rules an “assault” on federalism.
On January 10, the DMK’s student wing staged a protest at Valluvar Kottam in Chennai, expressing opposition to the UGC’s draft rules, claiming they went against the spirit of federalism.
The new UGC draft guidelines allow candidates to qualify for faculty positions at higher education institutions by clearing the UGC-NET in a subject of their choice, even if their undergraduate and postgraduate degrees are in different disciplines.
The revised rules also propose changes to the selection process for vice-chancellors, expanding eligibility criteria to include professionals from academia, research institutions, public policy, public administration, and industry.
In response to the criticism, UGC Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar defended the revisions, saying the changes were aimed at eliminating ambiguity and ensuring transparency.
He clarified that the search-cum-selection committee, now to be formed by the chancellor, would consist of three members: one nominated by the chancellor, one by the UGC chairman, and one by the university's executive council or senate.
“The structure eliminates ambiguity and ensures a more transparent process,” Kumar emphasised.
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