Regulatory issues, midday meal kept HRD Ministry busy in 2013

New Delhi: The Bihar midday meal tragedy claiming 23 lives came as a big setback for HRD Ministry as it remained engaged with a host of regulatory issues during 2013, which also saw Minister M M Pallam Raju's absence from office for over two months protesting the creation of Telangana.

Upset over the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, Raju put in his papers on October 4 and shunned official work even as the
Prime Minister was yet to accept it.

He later began functioning from his official residence but left no occasion to vent his frustration over government's stand on Telangana issue.

He resumed work from his office on December 20.

As the Ministry sought to push through the reformative agendas during the year, a Supreme Court ruling put it in a spot over the fate of technical institutes in the country.

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It contemplated an ordinance route to overturn the apex court ruling which had questioned the legitimacy of AICTE to govern technical courses but held back, asking UGC instead to draft regulations for approval of colleges.

In the midst of this episode, the Bihar midday meal tragedy happened.

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Stung by it, the ministry asked all states to put in place a contingency plan to deal with such incidents and ensure strict compliance of guidelines like teachers tasting food before it is served and procurement of foodgrains in sealed containers.

It also decided to set up a committee to review the implementation of its flagship programme, though incidences of similar nature kept recurring with alarming regularity in various other parts of the country.

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The year saw a few of a dozen legislations related to reforms in higher education passed by Parliament. Ministry officials now fear that several of them would lapse with the end of the tenure of 15th Lok Sabha.