New Delhi : The Government would reach out to different political parties on Thursday to seek the passage of three key higher education reform bills in the current session of Parliament.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawar Kumar Bansal said talks will be held with the parties on the three important legislations on that day.

He did not name the parties, but they may include the BJP and the Left parties, as they have earlier been critical of some of the initiatives of HRD Minister Kapil Sibal.

The measures which form the bedrock of Sibal’s higher education reforms are-Higher Education and Research Bill, Educational Tribunal Bill and the National Accreditation Regulatory Authority for Higher Educational Institutions Bill.

Government’s reaching out to the political parties is significant as Sibal had managed to break the logjam in the Budget session after nearly two years of legislative setbacks.

The Budget session had ensured passage of six Bills and Sibal wants to keep up the pace in this session too.

The HRD Ministry has decided not to push the legislation allowing foreign education institutions to set up base in India in the current Session of Parliament.

Reports had it that Sibal’s decision to put the Foreign Educational Institutions Bill on the back burner is in line with the strategy adopted in the Budget session of moving ahead with the less contentious bills to create a momentum.

This was done as the minister is well aware that a bill as contentious as the one, which allows foreign education institutions to set up campuses in India, could well derail his entire legislative agenda.

There are seven Bills that are pending in Parliament.

The ministry proposes to introduce two more – the Indian Institutes of Information Technology Bill and the Central Board of Secondary Education in the current Session.