SRM State University Bill and amendment to Environment Cess rules passed

GOLAY QUESTIONS PROLIFERATION OF PRIVATE UNIVS, WANTS CESS RAISED FROM INDUSTRIAL UNITS AND HYDEL PROJECTS
GANGTOK, 27 June: The third day of the budget session saw two Bills- the Shri Ramasamy Memorial (SRM) State University Bill and the Sikkim Ecology Fund and Environment Cess (Amendment) Bill, both introduced in the house on 25 June, being passed unanimously in the Sikkim Legislative Assembly today after discussions.
Participating in the discussions was Upper Burtuk MLA, PS Tamang, who first questioned the HRD Minister, NK Pradhan, as to why the SRM State University Bill was not published and brought to the public domain for public whetting before being brought into the SLA.
While stating that there had been instances of private universities operating in the state violating various clauses in the MoUs that had still not been looked into by the concerned authorities, Mr. Tamang highlighted the example of Vinayaka Mission (the University to which the Kyongsa College has been affiliated) which is facing a Supreme Court case after it was found operating an off campus medical university in Thailand.
“I have come here to ask these questions on behalf of the people since there are still some discrepancies that need to be addressed. We have seen how these universities are functioning and still the government has affiliated the government college at Kyongsa to this University. UGC norms clearly state that only Sikkim University’s affiliation can give value to the certificates that the students receive when passing out from this college, so isn’t this illegal?” questioned Mr. Tamang.
He also stated that a State University should have been given the name of a Sikkimese leader instead of its present name and questioned why the department was giving this honour of naming such a big and noble scheme of the State government to an outsider.
Similarly, member BS Panth, asked the HRD Minister about the criteria for job reservation for eligible local candidates in the proposed state university and whether the Department was considering building its own infrastructure in all the four districts for running the University instead of taking-up rented buildings.
In his reply, the HRD Minister stated that since the State government had not given the proposed State University any funding or land, it was not up-to the government to change the name of a University either. Likewise, he stated that affiliation for Kyongsa Government College was an urgent need of the hour at the time since the people of the area had demanded immediate starting of the college.
“Surely our first priority was affiliation to the Sikkim University but that did not happen and SU refused the affiliation outright despite many requests. It was then up to the government to look for other options since we had to start immediately, thus Vinayaka Mission was chosen,” the Minister explained.
He also informed that the MoU signed between the State government and SRM University clearly spelled out that all C & D class jobs will be reserved for locals and that priority will be given to eligible and qualified local candidate in other employments.
He also assured that the point on rented buildings and the construction of government buildings will be looked into by the department very soon.
Similarly, during discussions held earlier on the Sikkim Ecology Fund and Environment Cess (Amendment) Bill, Mr. Tamang who was the only member to participate, stated that conservation of the ecology and environment  was a very important issue that the state government was ‘neglecting’ in many forms. While stressing that the Cess should instead be levied on the industries and power projects that were polluting and damaging the ecology of the state, he suggested that the same should be done immediately if the department wanted to conserve the depleting natural resources of Sikkim.
In his reply, Forest Minister, Bhim Dhungel, said that the suggestions from the member were welcome. He did however challenge the suggestion that the Forest Department was ‘negligent’ and ‘lackadaisical’ in its approach towards conservation.
“There is a strong mechanism in place and agencies such as the SPCB and the CPCB continuously monitor and check the same. The positive effects of our conservation efforts is the 10 percent growth in forest cover since 1994. Along with the development of industries, the government has worked towards conservation and different surveys conducted by recognized and renowned institutes have given us the recognition,” the Forest Minister pointed out.
While stating that the Cess was for inclusive growth of the state by facilitating different conservation efforts, the Minister invited Mr. Tamang to approach the Department with valid complaints if he came across any violations in the future.
The Assembly session also saw general discussions on the Budget 2012-13 after which the Budget was passed unanimously by the House. Further, separate demands for grants under WS&PHE and Transport Department, R&B and Cooperation Departments, HRD, Sports and Youth Affairs and IT departments, Health, FS&AD and H&CCD and Parliamentary Affairs departments, Commerce and Industries, Excise (ABKARI) and Labour departments, Energy and Power and Cultural Affairs and Heritage Departments and the RM&DD, IPR departments were also passed by the house without discussions.