UP varsities told to form anti-conversion cells

LUCKNOW:All higher training institutions in Uttar Pradesh, including medical and dental colleges, ar gear up to go down up “Dharmantaran Roktham Cells” (anti-conversion cells) followers an order by state governor Anandiben Patel — a move which has sparked a political row.According to a May 28 letter from the governor’s secretariat to vice chancellors, directors of all state universities and institutes, a copy of which is with HT, high educational institutions, including medical institutes and others, have been instructed to strengthen counselling services, monitoring systems, student welfare mechanisms, reporting protocols and establish preventive safeguards after reports of students allegedly being influenced through inducement, psychological pressure or other unethical means (for conversion).While the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) backed the directive, calling it necessary to protect students from coercion, the Opposition Samajwadi Party (SP) accused the government of ignoring more pressing issues in higher education.A senior higher education department official said, “The focus is on early detection, counselling and student welfare rather than waiting for complaints to reach law-enforcement agencies.”Another government official said the objective is not to regulate personal faith but to prevent activities prohibited under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021.The governor’s directive follows a series of investigations linked to Lucknow’s King George’s Medical University (KGMU) over the past two years, in which police registered cases and carried out searches and arrests while probing allegations of organised efforts to influence individuals for religious conversion.KGMU spokesperson Prof KK Singh said that the university welcomes the governor’s order.“All directions issued by the governor will be implemented in full, and the conversion prevention cell will function in accordance with the prescribed guidelines,” KGMU spokesperson Prof KK Singh said.Prof CM Singh, director of Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, said the conversion prevention cell will be constituted at the institute in compliance with the governor’s directives.“The institute will implement the governor’s instructions and take the necessary steps for the formation of the cell,” Singh said.Lucknow University registrar Bhavana Mishra and vice-chancellor Prof JP Saini said, “The university would act on the governor’s directive regarding the constitution of a Conversion Prevention Cell.”Prof JP Pandey, vice chancellor, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University, said, “The university has started the process of constituting the cell while we are also directing the head of colleges to comply with the directives,” he said.