The Legislature-Parliament is likely to endorse two Acts to open two new universities before its dissolution on October 21.

The bills to set up Nepalgunj University in Banke and Rajarshi Janak (RJ) in Dhanusha are under consideration in the parliamentary Committee on Women, Children and Elderly Citizens. The bills introduced in Parliament by the Sushil Koirala-led government in July, 2015 will be tabled in the House for endorsement within the next five weeks.

The RJ University will be set up in Janakpur in the constituency of Nepali Congress leader Bimalendra Nidhi, who was the minister for local development when the bill was introduced. The Nepalgunj University is situated in the constituency of the late Koirala. The number of universities in the country will reach 11 if the bills are endorsed.

“The bills have been finalised and are most likely to be tabled in the House on Tuesday,” said Ganesh Man Gurung, coordinator of the subcommittee under the parliamentary committee. The term of the incumbent legislature will come to an end a day before the nominations for the first phase of federal elections.

Unlike the current practice of having the prime minister as the chancellor, said Gurung, the subcommittee has proposed a socially reputed personality for the post.

The recommendation is aimed at sparing the university the trouble of politicisation. The prime minister is the chancellor and education minister ex-officio pro-chancellor in the existing universities.

The subcommittee has also introduced a provision that the Public Service Commission selects staff for the universities, in a break from the practice of the universities having their own service commissions which often run into controversies.