KATHMANDU, DECEMBER 5

Federal parliamentarians have underlined the need to liberate the Prime Minister, the country's chief executive, from the burden of overseeing numerous universities.

They noted that the Prime Minister should not be designated with the responsibilities of Chancellor for all the universities.

During today's discussion on the draft bill designating the PM as the Chancellor of the Martyr Dasharath Chand Health Science University, members of the National Assembly Legislative Management Committee expressed the view that the PM should not be entrusted with the Chancellor responsibilities in several places, as the head of the government needs to be engaged in other crucial state affairs.

Committee Chair Jayanti Rai opined that the PM should not be overburdened with the responsibilities of being the Chancellor of additional universities and academies.

The bill has proposed provisions in which the Prime Minister shall be the Chancellor of the University, the Vice-Chancellor shall be the chief of the University, and the Chancellor shall preside over the convocation ceremony. The bill has also proposed the Minister for Education as the Pro-Chancellor of the University.

However, after a two-day discussion and acting on the recommendations of ministry officials, the committee reached a consensus to continue the previous provisions with the PM as the Chancellor.

Currently, the country has a total of 13 universities and seven academies where the PM serves as the Chancellor.'