Denying reports that Government proposed to set up a madrassa board, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal on Wednesday said there was little support to the formation of such a regulatory board from the Muslim community.

"There is no proposal, because unless the community wants it, why should we intervene... unless the community comes forward we will not discuss it," he said at a function here.

The minister, however, said he had discussed the issue with MPs after a proposal was made in this direction by the National Commission for Minority Education, "but the MPs opposed it".

Making it clear that the Government has never proposed to set up such a board, Sibal said the board is a suggestion of the Sachar Committee that felt that the functioning and modernisation of the madrassas should be supervised by a body which has more academics than theologians.

He added that there are special programmes for the minority community in the country.

"Wherever there is a concentration of the minority, we have programmes for setting up institutions of higher education. We are moving forward in that direction," he said.

A delegation of Jamiat-Ulama-i-Hind had recently met the minister seeking the setting up of a board for madrassas modelled on the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination.

Talking about emerging trends in higher education, Sibal said the broader objective of the Government is to move towards a system where there is an element of regulation and little role of "inspection raj".

He said legislations like the Malpractice Bill and National Accreditation Regulatory Authority Bill would improve quality in higher education and stop institutes from "duping" students and parents.

Sibal also dismissed apprehensions that the influx of foreign universities into the country following the passage of the Foreign Universities Bill will lead to "cultural invasion".

The Bill has enough provisions to keep away non-serious players and fly-by-night operators from the country, he said.

The HRD minister released two books on the occasion -- 'Emerging trends in Higher Education in India: Concepts and Practices' edited by K N Panikkar and M Bhaskaran Nair and 'Quality Access and Social Justice in Higher Education' edited by K N Panikkar, Thomas Joseph, Geetha G and M A Lal.