By Lalit Sethi
Are too many rules, procedures and regulatory authorities inhibiting the growth of higher education through new universities, autonomous colleges and institutions of excellence, besides financial constraints? To create a new Central university, Parliament has to adopt a Bill; perhaps a State Assembly has to do the same for one in its boundaries.
A Higher Education Commission of India Bill 2018 has been in the public domain and a number of comments have been received, but the key features of the proposed law appear to have been taken for granted, neither commended nor doubted. The HECI Bill vests the power to create or establish a university in the proposed Commission through a set of “transparent criteria and thus eliminates the need for a law for this purpose”. But the Commission will replace the University Grants Commission, which, it is felt, is limited in its overall academic purposes because it has been reduced to granting funds for the proposed and existing universities and autonomous colleges.
Even so it is felt that an administrative apparatus, somewhat autonomous, for the release of funds will have to be established within the Ministry of Human Resource Development, especially for the Central Universities. But would the State Governments be left high and dry in the process and be asked to find their own resources for higher education, as at the school level? Would that be a disaster in the making?
Why does this question arise? Because the last Finance Commission allocated 42 per cent of the Divisible Pool of the resources of the Union to the States, believed to be 2 per cent more than it had been in the past to strengthen the process of the federal structure of the nation? Could this question now be left to the new Finance Commission? It is obvious that it cannot be so. Higher education is too grave a matter to be left out of Central responsibilities.
In a surprise move the HRD Ministry has selected the yet-to-be set-up Jio Institute of Reliance Foundation as an institution of eminence even though it is only on paper. Is the Ministry obligated by law to ascertain must establish that it has adequate infrastructure, outstanding faculty, credible research output and a position of prestige in the academic circles. A non-existent university receives top of the line selection out of the blue. The HRD Ministry has now clarified that the selection of eminence is conditional. Was it a wake-up call after Opposition criticism and rubbing of eyes to announce that it had only sent a letter of intent based on a proposal by the Reliance Foundation to something to be established in a certain frame of time, it clarifies. Bravo! Better late than never or ever? Unique, indeed it is.
At the same time, a committee of experts has recommended provision of Rs. 1,000 crores to three special institutions and has selected a number of public and private institutions for recognition as those of eminence, but Jawaharlal Nehru University did not make it to the short list.
There has been some debate about setting up new minority or for that matter, “majority” institutions of excellence in the country. The proposed HECI may not have specifically taken a view on it, but apparently the Niti Ayog, which worked on the Bill, appears to be of the opinion that there has never been any problem with diverse groups going ahead with making their valuable contribution to education at all levels and they have over a 100 years or more been in the lead to give a push to advanced learning.
A specific question was recently brought up that Delhi’s St. Stephen’s College should be able to set up more colleges by the same name in different States. But the Students’ Association of the college rejected the move on the ground that if their nomenclature was freely used, even by the college authorities, they would be reduced to a private college and they would cease to be unique. The matter appears to rest there. But Hindu College of Delhi has come up with a move to set up 12 colleges with its name used in different cities. That issue appears to have made no progress as the time does not appear to be ripe.
But in Telengana, the State Government appears to have informally expressed the view that there need be no bar to a dozen odd private or independent colleges and universities being set up. Perhaps it would wish to wait for the Higher Education Commission of India to come up after due legal and parliamentary process and let the new institutions be set up in the new framework.
What is the opinion of other States? It would appear that they would wish the HECI to be in place before they get on with the new structure to take shape. Every State appears to be preoccupied with a number of burning issues, including reduced sowing of seeds by farmers, in spite of floods in Mumbai and Kashmir Valley, besides violence and crime and misuse of the cyber space, which is disturbing law and order as well as cases of child lifting, women’s molestation and lynching of people.
(Lalit Sethi is a Journalist of long standing and a commentator on Political and Social Issues).