On 6 February 2025, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party MP Akhilesh Yadav joined the DMK student wing’s protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi against the UGC draft rules. DMK MP Kanimozhi, RJD’s Manoj Jha, CPI(M)’s John Brittas, VCK’s Thol Thirumavalavan, and MDMK leader Vaiko were among the opposition leaders who took part in the protest.
Addressing the gathering in Hindi before switching to English on and off, SP MP and I.N.D.I. bloc ally Akhilesh Yadav strongly criticized the central government, declaring his firm opposition to the National Education Policy (NEP).
It is noteworthy that the DMK is against Hindi imposition especially when it comes to the central government.
He alleged that the New Education Policy (NEP) was a conspiracy to hand over universities to industrialists. He said, “I think that the new education policy that has come is somewhere a conspiracy to give universities to industrialists and to appoint vice-chancellors of big universities so that the power can go in their hands.”
He claimed that the NEP is designed to make state governments subservient. He said, “For this, new education policies are being brought and appointments are also being made and they are working to make the state governments slaves.”
He accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of enabling corporate control over politics. He said, “If we take the support of industrialists and stand with them, then one day these industrialists will make the government and politics servants. Atal Bihari ji had said that if you keep supporting illiterate people, one day you will become the servant of industrialists.”
Yadav implied that the NEP is part of a broader agenda to weaken state governance, he said, “They want to take over the power of state government politics and politicians are servants of industry.”
Emphasising his strong protest against NEP, he said, “We can never agree and can never support new education policy. I am against the NEP, I am against the Bharatiya Janata Party.”
Yadav claimed that north Indian students also are opposing NEP. He said, “This message goes to the students of India, even the North Indian students will support you at this moment.”
VIDEO | Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) joins DMK students wing protest in Delhi against UGC's draft regulations.
“… They want to take over all the power of state governments. They want to make politicians servants of industrialists. We can never support… pic.twitter.com/o5eQ8wRbi0
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) February 6, 2025
The protest followed the Tamil Nadu Assembly’s passage of a resolution on 9 January 2025, urging the Centre to withdraw the regulations immediately. The resolution received support from all parties except the BJP, including NDA ally Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) and the state’s main opposition, AIADMK.
The UGC’s new draft guidelines propose that candidates can qualify for faculty positions in higher education institutions by passing the UGC-NET in a subject of their choice, even if their undergraduate and postgraduate degrees are in different disciplines. Additionally, the guidelines broaden the eligibility criteria for vice-chancellors, allowing professionals from academia, research institutions, public policy, public administration, and industry to be considered for the role.
(With inputs from Times of India)
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