Students of premier law schools seek national importance tag

BENGALURU: Students of three National Law Universities (NLUs) ) are together driving a movement seeking the Institutes of National Importance (INI) status for all 18 NLUs in the country.

Institutions bestowed with the INI status receive funds directly from the Central government as part of ministry of human resources development’s (MHRD) budget for higher education.

Arguing that NLUs have been struggling due to lack of funds, the student bar association (SBA) of the National Law School of India University, Bengaluru, is spearheading the campaign to assert that it’s high time they are taken under the ambit of MHRD.

Joining hands with their counterparts at NLSIU, student bar associations of National Academy of Legal Study and Research (NALSAR) University of Law, Hyderabad and the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (WBNUJS) have contributed to a joint manifesto to urge the Centre to appoint a panel to assess the NLUs and consider them for the INI status.

Presently, Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), National Institutes of Technology (NITs) and International Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) are among those having the tag, while

Indian Institutes of Management

will get it soon.

The wake-up call came when students at

National University of Study and Research

in Law (NUSRL), Ranchi, fought for four days, demanding more transparency in administration and accountability in allocation of funds for the institution. While the protest ended on a successful note, the SBAs at the three of the oldest NLUs decided that the issue of funds has been a long-pending one and needed addressing.

Said Aman Saxena, president, SBA, and student NLSIU: “NLUs are state universities formed under legislations of various states and are therefore dependent only on the home state and the University Grants Commission (UGC) for funds. But this has led to a severe neglect of the discipline of law itself.”

Students pointed out that NLUs definitely fit the bill for INI status.

“While there are no guidelines for the exact requirements to get an INI status, we do know that it’s defined as an institution which serves as a pivotal player in developing highly skilled personnel within the specified region of the country/state,” said Saxena. “We believe that at many levels NLUs are more than capable of fitting the criteria for having contributed highly skilled personnel to the legal profession, judiciary, bureaucracy and so on,” he added.

The student associations of the three NLUs will now attempt to get all students, vice-chancellors, the Bar Council of India and the HRD Ministry on board.

“I am glad that students from various law schools are coming together on this issue. I’m very optimistic that this collaboration will help voice common concerns and design progressive solutions,” said Yugal Jain, president, student bar council, NALSAR.

Struggling with minimal funds

The NLUs, as students lament, are dependent on UGC grants and funds from respective state governments. NLSIU, Bengaluru, for instance, receives a mere Rs 2 crore from the Karnataka government, which, according to its SBA, hardly meets three months’ salaries of its staff.

“We don’t need a high budget. But a steady source of funding and proper support from the central government will go a long way in ensuring quality of the institutions,” added Saxena.

To help solve common problems

While every NLU has its own culture and specific grievances, I firmly believe that granting INI status to NLUs is not only warranted, but will also go a long way in solving the common problems faced by all these institutions. I hope this demand will garner support from all stakeholders in the fraternity

Samarth Sharma, vice president, student juridical association, NUJS