New Delhi: The Cabinet will soon issue an ordinance to create 12 new Central Universities across the country. The new Central Universities will be operational in Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu.

The announcement was made public after a Cabinet meeting held here today.

Dr. Harisingh Gour Vishwavidyalaya (Madhya Pradesh), Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya (Chhattisgharh), Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University (Uttarakhand) and Goa University (Goa) will be converted into Central Universities.

The proposed ordinance contains all the provisions of the Central Universities Bill, 2008, pending in the Lok Sabha.

The Bill was introduced in the Lok Shabha on October 23, 2008

This Bill was referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee of the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry for further examination and report.

The Committee presented its report on December 17, 2008, but the Bill could not be passed during the last session of the Parliament.

It has, therefore, been decided to recommend to the President under article 123 of the Constitution for the establishment and incorporation of the proposed Central Universities.

The conversion of Goa University was included in the Bill on a specific request of the State Government.