Parliament on Wednesday passed a bill to establish the Sammakka Sarakka Central Tribal University in Telangana after a nod from the Rajya Sabha.

The Upper House passed The Central Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2023, by voice vote in the absence of opposition members who had earlier staged a walk-out to press for their demand for a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah on the security breach in the Lok Sabha.

Two persons jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the public gallery during Zero Hour and released yellow gas from canisters and shouted slogans before being overpowered by MPs. Around the same time, two persons, including a woman, also sprayed coloured gas from canisters while shouting slogans "tanashahi nahi chalegi" outside the Parliament premises.

The Central Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2023, was cleared by the Lok Sabha last week.

Replying to the debate, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the establishment of a central tribal university in Telangana is obligatory under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014.

In Andhra Pradesh, a tribal university has been set up already and the campus has started functioning, he said and added, "If the Telangana government had co-operated at the right time, this university would have come up by now. They took a long time to provide land, so there was a delay in the implementation." The minister assured the House that once the president gives assent to the bill, all the processes will be taken up quickly to open the university at the earliest so that it can go ahead and function as a national institution.

Pradhan also refuted allegations from the opposition members that the government is trying to rewrite history through the National Education Policy, 2020.

Responding to issues raised by some members on the dropout rates of students from SC, ST and OBC communities in central universities, IITs and IIMs, the minister said one of reasons was that they get better options and take admission in other educational institutes and that is reflected as a dropout from the previous institute.

Citing an analysis by the government, he said total enrolment in IITs in the last five years was 2,66,433 (2.66 lakh) in the general category. Of these, 4,081 students dropped out -- a rate of 1.53 per cent.

Similarly, the dropout rate among students from OBC, SC and ST communities stood at 1.5 per cent, 1.47 per cent and 1.29 per cent, respectively, Pradhan said.

The minister also rebutted claims by some opposition members about a decline in the number of students enrolled for higher studies, saying it has -- on the contrary -- grown by 26 per cent in 2021-22 from to 2014-14.

Before the minister's reply, Leader of House Piyush Goyal said whenever there is a bill related to OBCs or tribal welfare, the opposition makes an excuse to stage walkouts.

The people of Telangana have recently elected their government, Goyal said referring to the Congress' victory in assembly elections in the state.

An important tribal university is coming up in the state after years of wait; on such an occasion, they have walked out to politicise the Lok Sabha security breach issue despite assurance that an inquiry has been set up, Goyal said.

Taking part in the discussion, Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda said the establishment of the central university in Telangana is also a reflection of the government's efforts to take along everyone in India's journey towards progress.

Prashanta Nanda (BJD), Sadanand Shet Tanawde (BJP), M Thambidurai (AIADMK), Kanakmedala Ravindra Kumar (TDP), V Vijayasai Reddy (YSRCP), Abdul Wahab (IUML) and B Lingaiah Yadav (BRS) took part in the discussion.

According to the statement and objects of the Central Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2023, the establishment of the Sammakka Sarakka Central Tribal University will cater to the regional aspirations for years to come.

The proposed institution, it said, will increase access and quality of higher education and facilitate and promote higher education and research facilities for the people of Telangana.

It will also promote advanced knowledge by providing instructional and research facilities in tribal art, culture and customs and advancement in technology to the tribal population of India.

"Apart from bringing focus to tribal education, the central tribal university shall carry out all educational and other activities like any other central university," it read.

The Central Universities Act, 2009, was enacted to establish and incorporate universities for teaching and research in various states. The law is tweaked from time to time.

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