The Meghalaya cabinet on November 4 approved the St Xavier's University Bill, Shillong 2020.
The draft bill was brought by the education department and the same was approved by the cabinet.
The bill was introduced in the autumn session of the State Assembly on November 5 and will be cleared in this session.
Speaking to media persons, Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong said, "St Xavier's universities are the most successful universities in the country. The Calcutta Jesuits have established St. Xavier's University, Kolkata at New Town in Kolkata in 2017. It is run very successfully."
When asked about the concerns of allowing another private university to enter state, especially when Meghalaya did not have a good experience with CMJ University and other private universities, Tynsong said the proposal to set up the St Xavier's University in the state had gone to the regulatory board under the Meghalaya Private Universities (Regulation of Establishment and Maintenance of Standards) Act, 2012 and the board has strongly recommended for the University.
The St. Xavier's University Meghalaya will be run by the Jesuits of Kohima Region working in the North East. Before submitting the Letter of intent to the Government, a team of Jesuits visited other Jesuit universities in the country. This is the third Jesuit University in the country after XUB Orissa and SXUK West Bengal.
The Chief Minister of Meghalaya, Conrad Sangma, son of P. A. Sangma, former Speaker of the Lok Sabha and Chief Minister of Meghalaya, has been a great inspiration behind the venture. In one of his letters, he wrote to Father Felix Raj, "It is wonderful to hear the positive response from the Jesuits on the proposal and idea of setting up a university in Meghalaya� It is great to know about Jesuit relation with my father. He had immense respect for the Jesuits, and I share the same respect and feeling which, he had. I am sure this relation will continue�"
The Meghalaya government has set up a regulatory board under the Meghalaya Private Universities (Regulation of Establishment and Maintenance of Standards) Act, 2012.
The regulatory board will ensure that private universities maintain the standards of infrastructure, teaching, research, examination and extension of services, fee structure, and safeguard the interest of the state.
The board will ensure that the student community gets quality education and avoid commercialization of higher education.
Tynsong said the proposal to set up the St. Xavier's university had gone to the regulatory board and the board had granted its recommendation.
With the setting up of the St Xavier's University, Shillong is set to compete with Assam and Nagaland that have the Assam Don Bosco University and St. Joseph's University respectively.
The North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) is the only central university in Meghalaya that students look up to but no other private universities that have mushroomed in the state.
Courtesy: www.felixrajsj.com