The words “all such steps” are of wide import. The steps referred to in Section 12 may include issuance of guidelines, directions, circulars etc. Hence the Guidelines issued in exercise of statutory powers, thus, cannot be said to be non-statutory.
The Central Information Commission (CIC) has frequently pulled up statutory bodies for not pro-actively disclosing authenticated orders on their websites, arguing that Section 11 authentication should be the start of the communication process, not the end.
The UGC’s lack of professional, independent administrative staff, in influence of the slow-moving Government Rule machinery has hindered its ability to regulate a 21st-century education market.
An associated person might be a professor from a private university giving advice on regulations that affect their own institution.
But the Act is silent on vacancy of Chairman or Vice-Chairman of the Commission. In absence of these two leadership posts who will be authorized to sign on behalf of them?
The Court suggested that transaction of business cannot be used to pass exclusionary definitions, such as the restrictive definition of caste discrimination, without transparent and inclusive deliberation as intended by the spirit of the Act.
The Act does not define inability or incapacity. This ambiguity allows the Central Government to potentially remove a Chairman or Vice-Chairman by declaring them unable to function without a formal inquiry or clear medical/legal standards.
Why there is no representation for faculties of arts, commerce and other subjects of humanities? And even though there is representation of reputed professional fields, why there is still outdated syllabus?
Although all these roles are specifically mentioned in statute and it is evident that these are all the primary requirements, UGC is always been criticized and held responsible for low standards of higher education in India.
The deeming fiction ensures that a “Deemed University” enjoys the same legal standing and privileges as any regular university established by an Act of Parliament or a State Legislature.
