NEP is "conspiracy" to hand over universities to industrialists: Akhilesh supports DMK's protest against UGC draft rules

New Delhi [India], February 6 : Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has come out strongly against the New Education Policy, calling it a "conspiracy" to hand over universities to industrialists.
While addressing a protest by the DMK students wing against the University Grants Commission (UGC) draft rules on Thursday in Delhi, Yadav declared that his party supports the protest and will never back the policy.
"...Samajwadi Party supports this protest against the New Education Policy that the central govt is bringing," he said.
The Samajwadi Party chief drew on the words of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who once cautioned that excessive support for industrialists would ultimately lead to politicians becoming their servants. Yadav sees the New Education Policy as a manifestation of this warning, alleging that it aims to transfer power from state governments 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," he said.
He further claimed that they (BJP) want to make politics and politicians the servants of 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. I congratulate the youth wing of the DMK who have come all the way from Tamil Nadu. Even North Indian students will support you in this protest," the SP Chief said.
Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) General Secretary Vaiko also participated in the protest.
Meanwhile, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi will also participate in the DMK Youth Wing's protest today.
Tamil Nadu Assembly also passed a resolution against the draft rules on January 9, urging their withdrawal of the draft rules.
Speaking in the Assembly, CM Stalin said, "This Assembly considers that the recent UGC draft rules should be taken back. They are an assault on the idea of federalism and they affect Tamil Nadu's higher education system."
Earlier, on January 10, DMK's student wing held a protest at Valluvar Kottam, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, against the UGC draft rules, claiming that they are against the spirit of federalism.
According to UGC's new draft guidelines, candidates can qualify for faculty positions at higher institutions by clearing the UGC-NET in a subject of their choice, even if their undergraduate and postgraduate degrees are in different disciplines.
The guidelines also propose changes to the selection process for vice-chancellors, including the expansion of eligibility criteria to include professionals from academia, research institutions, public policy, public administration, and industry.
On January 10, UGC chairman M Jagadesh Kumar defended the revised rules, emphasising that the revised process "eliminates ambiguity and ensures transparency."
Speaking to ANI, Kumar clarified, "The search-cum-selection committee will now be formed by the chancellor, which was not explicitly mentioned in the 2018 regulations."
He added that the committee will have three members: one nominated by the chancellor, one by the UGC chairman, and one by the university's executive council or senate. "This structure eliminates ambiguity and ensures a more transparent process," Kumar reiterated, addressing criticisms from sections of teachers and state governments.