New Private Universities in Assam to Require Security Clearance, Says CM Sarma

GUWAHATI: The Assam Cabinet on Tuesday decided to make it mandatory for any new private university coming up in the state to get a “security clearance” from the state government and be “secular in its operations.”

Announcing after a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday evening, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the decision was prompted by the controversy surrounding the University of Science and Technology Meghalaya (USTM) and its chancellor Mahbubul Hoque.

Recently, Sarma has been severely critical of USTM—one of the top private universities of Meghalaya, located near Guwahati—and Hoque, who the Assam CM has even accused of waging “flood jihad.” The Assam Police arrested Hoque on February 21 for alleged malpractices during class 12 CBSE examinations at a school run by his trust in the state.

Sarma announced on Tuesday that the Cabinet decided to make the Assam Private Universities Act 2007 more stringent by making a “national security clearance” issued by the state government’s Home and Political Department a necessary prerequisite for setting up a private university.

“Just having land and buildings will not be enough; they will also need security clearances from a national security perspective. Furthermore, private universities will have to be completely secular and cannot be associated directly or indirectly with conversion activities. And if they are found indulging in this, their registrations can be instantly cancelled,” he said.

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