JIO UNIVERSITY: GREY EMINENCE
Ever since he took charge as Union minister for human resource development in 2016, ‘autonomy’ has been the keyword for Prakash Javadekar. Yet, a couple of his recent initiatives have drawn criticism. For instance, a week after he told india today that the government was working on a plan to integrate the UGC, AICTE and NCTE and create a single authority—the Higher Education Empowerment Regulation Agency (HEERA)—his ministry released a draft bill proposing the creation of the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI), replacing the UGC. The HECI doesn’t encompass the AICTE’s and NCTE’s functions, and unlike the UGC, it would have no power to grant funds but will have the power to shut down institutions.
Experts have criticised the haste to create the HECI, while dumping the HEERA, and the decision to give the ministry the power to decide financial assistance to institutions. “The draft law recognises the importance of autonomy, but it’s not a question of the autonomy of colleges and universities, it is also that of the commission,” says former UGC chairman Sukhadeo Thorat.
The latest addition to this drive is the announcement of six Institutes of Eminence (IoE), under the government scheme of setting up or upgrading 20 institutions (10 in the public sector and 10 in the private sector) as worldclass teaching and research institutions. An empowered expert committee (EEC), under former chief election commissioner N. Gopalaswami, selected these from 74 government and 40 private institutions.
What raised eyebrows is the inclusion of Reliance Foundation’s Jio Institute among the six institutes of eminence including the likes of IISc, Bangalore and IIT Delhi. Pune’s Jio Institute is yet to be set up. Facing flak, the government defended the move saying the Jio Institute has not yet been accorded the IoE status. “It has only been shortlisted under the green-
field category. They sent us their vision; the government, based on the reputation of the promoters and availability of resources, expressed its intent to consider the proposal,” says R. Subrahmanyam, secretary, higher education.
The EEC had laid down four conditions for an institute to make the cut—availability of land for construction of the institution, putting in place a core team with very high qualifications, making available funding for setting up the institution and a strategic vision plan with clear annual milestones and an action plan. Gopalaswami clarified that the greenfield institutions will be eligible for ‘eminence’ status only after they fulfil a series of stringent conditions. The ministry will issue a letter of intent to the institute. The institution’s sponsor organisation will have to set it up and indicate its readiness to commence academic operations within three years. The EEC will again examine the institution and may or may not declare it an IoE.
Critics have questioned the need for creating a ‘greenfield’ category and the logic of finding eminence in a ‘non-existent’ institution. “It is yet to be established but will be marketed as a world-class institution by the government,” says JNU professor Ayesha Kidwai. The ministry issued a clarification saying the purpose of this category is “to allow responsible private investment to come [into] building global class educational infrastructure, thereby benefitting the nation as a whole”.
While the three public institutions will get a government grant of Rs 1,000 crore for the next five years, the private institutes will not be eligible for government funding.