 bill no 65 of 2015 the national commission for students bill, 2015 bydr a sampath, mp a billto provide for the constitution of a national commission for students and for matters connected therewith or incidental theretobe  it enacted by parliament in the sixty-sixth year of the republic of india as follows:— chapter i preliminary1  (1) this act may be called the national commission for students act, 2015(2) it extends to the whole of india except the state of jammu and kashmir5short title, extent and commencement(3) it shall come in to force on such date as the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, appointdefinitions2 in this act , unless the context otherwise requires,—(a) "commission" means the national commission for students constituted under section 3;(b) "member" means a member of the commission and includes the member-secretary;(c) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act; and5(d) "student" means a person who is pursuing any course of study in any educational institution or in any branch outside india of an educational institution registered in india chapter ii the national commission for students103 (1) the central government shall constitute a body to be known as the national commission for students to exercise the powers conferred on, and to perform the functions assigned to, it under this actconstitution of national commission for students(2) the commission shall consist of—(a) a chairperson, committed to the cause of students, to be nominated by the central government, who is or has been a judge of the supreme court or high court or eligible to be appointed as a judge of the supreme court or a high court1520(b) seven members to be nominated by the central government from amongst persons of ability, integrity and standing who have had experience in law, student activism, management of an industry or organisation administration, economic development, health, education or social welfare, committed to increasing the employment potential of students and promoting voluntary organisations of students (including students activists): provided that—(a) at least one member each shall be from amongst persons belonging to the scheduled castes, the scheduled tribes and the other backward classes, respectively;(b) at least one member shall be a woman;25(c) at least one member shall be a person having adequate legal background in welfare legislations(c) a member-secretary to be nominated by the central government, who shall be—30(i) an expert in the field of academic or management of educational structure or social movements launched by students, or(ii) an officer who is a member of a civil service of the union or of an all-india service or holds a civil post under the union with appropriate experience354 (1) the chairperson and every member shall hold office for such period, not exceeding three years, as may be specified by the central government in this behalfterm of office and conditions of service of chairperson and members(2) the chairperson or a member (other than the member-secretary) may, by writing and addressed to the central government resign from the office of chairperson or, as the case may be, of the member at any time(3) the central government shall remove a person from the office of chairperson or a member referred to in sub-section (2) if that person—(a) becomes an undischarged insolvent; (b) gets convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for an offence which in the opinion of the central government involves moral turpitude;(c) becomes of unsound mind and stands so declared by a competent court; (d) refuses to act or becomes incapable of acting;(e) is, without obtaining leave of absence from the commission, absent from three consecutive meetings of the commission; or(f)  in the opinion of the central government has so abused the position of chairperson or member as to render that person's continuance in office detrimental to the public interest:5provided that no person shall he removed under this clause until that person has been given a reasonable opportunity of being heard in the matter(4) a vacancy caused under sub-section (2) or otherwise shall be filled by fresh nomination10(5) the salaries and allowances payable to, and the other terms and conditions ofservice of, the chairperson and members shall be such as may be prescribed5 (1) the central government shall provide the commission with such officers and employees as may be necessary for the efficient performance of the functions of the commission under this actofficers and other employees of the commission,15(2) the salaries and allowances payable to, and the other  terms and conditions ofservice of, the officers and the other employees appointed for the purpose of the commission shall be such as may be prescribed20salaries and allowances to be paid out of grants6 the salaries and allowances payable to the chairperson and members and theadministrative expenses, including salaries, allowances and pensions payable to the officers and other employees referred to in section 5, shall be paid out of the grants referred to in sub-section (1) of section 11| 7                                                                                     ||----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|| the ground merely of the existence of any vacancy or defect in the constitution of the || commission                                                                            || vacancies                                                                              || etc, not to                                                                           || invalidate                                                                             || proceedings                                                                            || of the                                                                                 || commission                                                                            |258 (1) the commission may appoint such committees as may be necessary for dealingwith such special issues as may be taken up by the commission from time to timecommittees of the commission30(2) the commission shall have the power to co-opt as members of any committeeappointed under sub-section (1) such number of persons, who are not members of the commission, as it may think fit and the persons so co-opted shall have the right to attend the meetings of the committee and take part in its proceedings but shall not have the right to vote(3) the persons so co-opted shall be entitled to receive such allowances for attending the meetings of the committee as may be prescribed9 (1) the commission or a committee thereof shall meet as and when necessary and shall meet at such time and place as the chairperson may think fit35procedure to be regulated by the commission(2) the commission shall regulate its own procedure and the procedure of the committees thereof40(3) all orders and decisions of the commission shall be authenticated by the member-secretary or any other officer of the commission duly authorised by the member-secretary in this behalf chapter iii functions of the commission10 (1) the commission shall perform all or any of the following functions, namely:—functions of the commission45(a) investigate and examine all matters relating to the rights and safeguards provided for students;(b) present to the central government, annually and at such other times as the commission may deem fit, reports upon the working of those safeguards;(c) make, in such reports, recommendations for the effective implementation of those safeguards for improving the conditions of students by the union or any state;5(d) review, from time to time the existing provisions of the constitution and other laws affecting students and recommend amendments thereto so as to suggest remedial legislative measures to meet any lacunae, inadequacies or shortcomings in such legislations;(e) take up the cases of violation of the provisions of the constitution and of other laws in relation to students with appropriate authorities;10(f) look into complaints and take suo moto notice of matters relating to—(i) deprivation of student's rights; including denied and unfair trade practices of educational loans;| (                                                                              | ii   | ) non-implementation of laws enacted to provide protection to students   ||--------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|| and also to achieve the objective of equality and development;                 |      |                                                                          || 15                                                                             |      |                                                                          || (                                                                              | iii  | ) non-compliance of policy decisions, guidelines or instructions aimed   || at mitigating hardships and ensuring welfare and providing relief to students, |      |                                                                          |and take up the issues arising out of such matters with appropriate authorities;20(g) call for special studies or investigations into specific problems or situations arising out of discrimination and atrocities against students and identify the constraints so as to recommend strategies for their removal;(h) participate and advise on the planning process of socio-economic development of students;(i) evaluate the progress of the development of role of students under the union and any state;25(j) inspect or cause to be inspected a jail, juvenile home, remand home, women's institution or other place custody where students are kept as prisoners or otherwise, and take up with the concerned authorities for remedial action, if found necessary;30(k) to inspect any educational institution and its premises including hostels and offices and take up with concerned authorities for remedial action, if found necessary; (l) fund litigation affecting a large body of students in disputes relating to educational issues with managements;(m) make periodical reports to the government on any matter pertaining to students; and(n) any other matter which may be referred to it by the central government35(2) the central government shall cause all the reports referred to in clause (b) of subsection (1) to be laid before each house of parliament along with a memorandum explaining the action taken or proposed to be taken on the recommendations relating to the union and the reasons for the non-acceptance, if any, of any of such recommendations40(3) where any such report or any part thereof relates to any matter with which any state government is concerned, the commission shall forward a copy of such report or part to such state government who shall cause it to be laid before the legislature of the state along with a memorandum explaining the action taken or proposed to be taken on the recommendations relating to the state and the reasons for the non-acceptance, if any, of any of such recommendations45(4) the commission shall, while investigating any matter referred to in clause (a) or sub-clause (i) of clause (f) of sub-section (1), have all the powers of a civil court trying a suit and, in particular in respect of the following matters, namely:—(a) summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person from any part ofindia and examining him on oath;5(b) requiring the discovery and production of any document; (c) receiving evidence on affidavits; (d) requisitioning any public record or copy thereof from any court or office; (e) issuing commissions for the examination of witnesses and documents; and (f) any other matter which may be prescribed10 chapter iv finance, accounts and auditgrants by the central government11 (1) the central government shall, after due appropriation made by parliament by law in this behalf, pay to the commission by way of grants such sums of money as the central government may think fit for being utilised for the purposes of this act15(2) the commission may spend such sums as it thinks fit for performing the functions under this act, and such sums shall be treated as expenditure payable out of the grants referred to in sub-section (1)accounts and audit2012 (1) the commission shall maintain proper accounts and other relevant records and prepare an annual statement of accounts in such form as may be prescribed by the central government in consultation with the comptroller and auditor-general of india25(2) the accounts of the commission shall be audited by the comptroller and auditor general at such intervals as may be specified by him and any expenditure incurred in connection with such audit shall be payable by the commission to the comptroller and auditor-general30(3) the comptroller and auditor-general and any person appointed by him in connection with the audit of the accounts of the commission under this act shall have the same rights and privileges and the authority in connection with such audit as the comptroller and auditor-general generally has in connection with the audit of government accounts and, in particular, shall have the right to demand the production of books, accounts, connected vouchers and other documents and papers and to inspect any of the offices of the commission(4) the accounts of the commission, as certified by the comptroller and auditor-general or any other person appointed by him in this behalf together with the audit report thereon shall be forwarded annually to the central government by the commission35annual report13 the commission shall for each financial year prepare in such form and at such time,as may be prescribed, its annual report, giving a full account of its activities during the previous financial year and forward a copy thereof to the central government40annual report and audit report to be laid before parliament14 the central government shall cause the annual report  together with a memorandumof action taken on the  recommendations contained therein, in so far as they relate to the central government and the reasons for the non-acceptance, if any, of any of such recommendations and the audit report to be laid as may be after the reports are received, before each house of parliament chapter v miscellaneous15 the chairperson, the members, officers and other employees of the commission shall be deemed to be public servants within the meaning of section 21 of the indian penal code 186045 of 18605chairperson, members and staff of the commission to be public servants16 the central government shall consult the commission on all major policy matters affecting studentscentral government to consult commissionpower to make rules17 (1) the central government may, by notification in the officialgazette, make rules for carrying out the provisions of this act10(2) in particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the forgoing power, such rules may provided for all or any of the following matters, namely—(a) salaries and allowances payable to and the other terms and conditions of service of the chairperson and members under sub-section (5) of section 4 and of officers and other employees under sub-section (2) of section 5;15(b) allowances for attending the meetings of the committee by the co-optedpersons under sub-section (3) of section 8;(c) other matters under clause (f) of sub-section (4) of section 10;(d) the form in which the annual statement of accounts shall be maintained undersub-section (1) of section 12;20(e) the form in, and the time at, which the annual report shall be prepared undersection 13; and(f) any other matter which is required to be, or may be, prescribed25(3) every rule made under this act shall be laid as soon as may be after it is made, before each house of parliament, while it is in session for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions and if before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or successive sessions aforesaid both houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both houses agree that the rule should not be made the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule30 statement of objects and reasonsstudents are the future of our nation but the recent trend in education sector being monetary based is eroding social consciousness education plays an important role in shaping an individual's career education removes blanket of ignorance, empowers people and familiarises them of their fundamental rights the level of education helps people to earn recognition and respect in the society article 21a of the constitution guarantees free and compulsory education to all the children between the age of six to fourteen years however, there is no obligation on the part of the government to ensure pre-primary and higher education although, government has taken an important step by enacting the right of children to free and compulsory education act, 2009, yet, a lot more needs to be done to enable the children to secure gainful employment after completing their educationthe bill seeks to provide for the constitution of a national commission for welfare and protection of rights of students the main task of the commission shall be to study and monitor all matters relating to the constitutional and legal safeguards provided for students, to review the existing legislations and suggest amendments, wherever necessary it will also look into the complaints and take students notice of the cases involving deprivation of the rights of students in order to provide support, legal or otherwise, to hapless students the commission shall monitor the proper implementation of all the legislations made to protect the rights of students so as to enable them to achieve equality in all spheres of life and equal participation in the development of the nationthe bill seeks to achieve the aforesaid objectivesnew delhi;a  sampathfebruary 11, 2015 financial  memorandumclause 3 of the bill provides for constitution of a national commission for studentsclause 6 provides for salaries and allowances to be paid to the chairperson and members of the commission clause 8 provides for appointment of committees to deal with special issues clause 9 provides for meetings of the commission and committees clause 10 provides for funds for meeting expenditure on litigation affecting students clause 11 provides that the central government shall provide funds to the commission clause 12 provides for payment of expenditure incurred on audit of the commissionthe bill, therefore, if enacted, would involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india at this stage, it is not possible to give the exact amount to be incurred however, it is estimated that a recurring expenditure of about rupees four hundred crore will be involved per annuma non-recurring expenditure of rupees forty crore is also likely to be involved memorandum regarding delegated legislationclause 17 of the bill empowers the central government to make rules to carry out the provisions of the bill such rules may provide for matters, such as—(a) the manner of preparation of the panel of eminent persons under sub-section (2) of section 3;(b) salaries and allowances payable to, and the other terms and conditions of service of, the chairperson and members under sub-section (5) of section 4 and officers and other employees under sub-section (2) of section 5;(c) allowances for attending the meetings of the committee by the co-opted persons under sub-section (3) of section 8;(d) the form in which the annual statement of accounts shall be maintained under sub-section (1) of section 12;(e) the form in, and the time at, which the annual report shall be prepared under section 13;(f) any other matter which is required to be, or may be, prescribed 2 the matters in respect of which rules may be made are matters of procedural and administrative detail and it is not practicable to provide for them under the bill itself the delegation of the legislative power is, therefore, of a normal character lok  sabha———— a billto provide for the constitution of a national commission for students and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto————(dr a sampath, mp)