Disagreement on the WCCU and National university plans
November 19th, 2008
Update: See also this article in Times of India.
Following are excerpts from a report in Telegraph.
The Prime Minister’s plans of setting up a new class of universities to specifically compete with global institutions are being held up by differences between key government arms.
The HRD ministry has proposed a category of “Navratna” institutes comprising 14 new universities and existing top state varsities, government officials have said.
These institutes would be on a par with “world-class” universities but would be known by the new name because some people are against the earlier nomenclature.
The universities of Calcutta, Mumbai and Chennai are being considered for Navratna status.
However, the University Grants Commission has opposed starting institutes with the specific mandate of competing with the world’s best, sources said.
… The UPA government had promised 14 new world-class universities, including one in Calcutta, under the eleventh five-year plan. But the differences have led to an impasse and the plans, though not yet shelved, are headed for the backburner, the sources said.
… At meetings with universities in July, September and last week, HRD ministry officials were questioned on how a new university stood a better chance of becoming “world-class” compared with established institutions.
So, the ministry — through higher education secretary R.P. Agrawal — suggested that instead of having just 14 new world-class universities, a new category could be created.
This could be called the Navratna category and it could include top state universities apart from the 14 new ones aspiring to world-class standards.
But UGC chairman Sukhdeo Thorat apparently said that creating another category would introduce a new Brahmin into an already layered “caste system” in higher education.
Under the “caste system”, central universities receive maximum attention from policy makers, followed by state universities. Deemed-to-be universities are a rung lower.
… Officials have also questioned the basis on which state universities would be given Navratna status.
“For instance, if Calcutta University is given the status, how can we refuse Jadavpur University?” an official asked.
The concept of “world class universities” is a part of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s plans to make India a “knowledge economy” — a global hub of myriad branches of education and learning.
The initial plan sees them as unified centres of excellence in engineering, the sciences, humanities, management and medicine — on a par with the IITs, IIMs and the AIIMS.
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