First PIB on the Central University in KBK is titled: CENTRAL TRIBAL UNIVERSITY IN KBK REGION.
A proposal for setting up of 16 Central Universities – one each in such States as have no Central University – is in the process of being finalized. Orissa being one of such States, its request for establishment of a Central University in the tribal dominated KBK region shall receive due consideration. Further, a Bill for setting up a Central Tribal University is in the process of being introduced in the current session of the Parliament. The proposed University shall have power to establish its Regional Centres in the areas inhabited by tribal population, which could include KBK region of Orissa.
This was stated by the Minister of State for Human Resource Development Smt. D. Purandeswari in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.
The second PIB titled: NEW CENTRAL UNIVERSITIES IN THE COUNTRY
It is proposed to establish 30 Central Universities during the XIth Plan and the first two years of the XIIth Plan period, subject to the Plan being finalized.
While a common entrance test would be desirable, in keeping with the NCMP commitment of the autonomy, any such decision would be taken by the concerned Universities after they come into existence.
An estimated 20% of the budgeted expenditure on higher education is met currently by the Central Government.
Action for establishment, in the first phase, of one Central University in each of the 16 States which do not have a Central University so far has already been initiated. The financial requirement of these Universities is estimated at Rs.4,800 crore during the 11th Plan period at an average of Rs.300 crore per University. This was stated by the Minister of State for Human Resource Development Smt. D. Purandeswari in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.
The third PIB titled: CENTRAL UNIVERSITIES IN STATES
It is proposed to establish during the XIth Plan, one Central University in each State with no such University and provide assistance for establishing one college in each district with low Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education.
As at present, 23 Central Universities in 14 States/Union Territories have been functioning under the purview of Ministry of Human Resource Development. Action for establishment of a Central University in each of the remaining 16 States, namely Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand, has already been initiated.
This was stated by the Minister of State for Human Resource Development Smt. D. Purandeswari in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.
The fourth PIB titled: UNIVERSITIES OF INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS
Subject to availability of resources, it is proposed to establish new Central Universities and to develop existing Universities to world standards. The XIth Plan is yet to be finalized.
This was stated by the Minister of State for Human Resource Development Smt. D. Purandeswari in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.
One of the above PIB mentions that there are 23 existing central universities. From our list it seems the 23 are in the following 14 states: Andhra Pradesh (2), Arunachal Pradesh (1), Assam (2), Delhi (4), Maharastra (1), Manipur (2), Meghalaya (1), Mizoram (1), Nagaland (1), Pondicherry (1), Sikkim (1), Tripura (1), Uttar Pradesh (4), and West Bengal (1).
August 13th, 2007
Newspost India reports on it. Following are some excerpts:
Thousands of tribals in Orissa’s poverty ridden Kalahandi, Bolangir and Koraput (KBK) districts may soon have access to better higher education with a central university being planned there.
The human resource development (HRD) ministry Monday said it was weighing a state government proposal to set up such a university in the region.
‘Orissa being one of such states (without a central university), its request for establishment of a central university in the tribal-dominated KBK region shall receive due consideration,’ Minister of State for HRD D. Purandeswari said.
‘Further, a bill for setting up a central tribal university is in the process of being introduced in the current session of parliament,’ Purandeswari informed the Rajya Sabha.
The proposed university shall have power to establish its regional centres in areas inhabited by tribals.
The HRD ministry had earlier said there was a proposal for setting up 16 central universities in states where there was no such university.
August 13th, 2007
Following is the current status regarding where the existing and announced IITs and IIMs are.
IITs: 7 existing IITs and 3 new ones have been announced. If planning commission approves the plan that has been floated, 5 more IITs will be established.
1. Andhra Pradesh (announced IIT)
2. Arunachal Pradesh
3. Assam (existing IIT )
4. Bihar (announced IIT)
5. Chhatisgarh (possible new location)
6. Delhi (existing IIT)
7. Goa (possible new location)
8. Gujarat (possible new location)
9. Haryana (possibly a shared one with Punjab at Chandigarh)
10. Himachal Pradesh
11. J & K (possible new location)
12. Jharkhand (possible new location)
13. Karnataka (possible new location)
14. Kerala (possible new location)
15. Madhya Pradesh (possible new location)
16. Maharastra (existing IIT)
17. Manipur
18. Meghalaya
19. Mizoram
20. Nagaland
21. Orissa (possible new location)
22. Punjab (possibly a shared one with Punjab at Chandigarh)
23. Rajasthan (announced IIT)
24. Sikkim
25. Tamil Nadu (existing IIT)
26. Tripura
27. Uttarakhand (existing IIT)
28. Uttar Pradesh (existing IIT)
29. West Bengal (existing IIT)
My guess is that if indeed 5 more new IITs are announced, then the underlined ones above will have the best chances.
IIMs: There are six existing ones, three new ones have been announced. If planning commission approves the plan that is being floated then four more new IIMs will be established.
7 more IIMs (3 announced)
1. Andhra Pradesh (announced IIM)
2. Arunachal Pradesh
3. Assam
4. Bihar (announced IIM)
5. Chhatisgarh (possibly an IIM)
6. Delhi (IIM Lucknow campus)
7. Goa
8. Gujarat (existing IIM)
9. Haryana (possibly a shared one with Punjab near Chandigarh)
10. Himachal Pradesh
11. J & K (possibly an IIM)
12. Jharkhand (possibly an IIM)
13. Karnataka (existing IIM)
14. Kerala (existing IIM)
15. Madhya Pradesh (existing IIM)
16. Maharastra (possibly an IIM)
17. Manipur
18. Meghalaya (announced IIM)
19. Mizoram
20. Nagaland
21. Orissa (possibly an IIM)
22. Punjab (possibly a shared one with Haryana near Chandigarh)
23. Rajasthan (possibly an IIM)
24. Sikkim
25. Tamil Nadu (possibly an IIM)
26. Tripura
27. Uttarakhand (possibly an IIM)
28. Uttar Pradesh (existing IIM)
29. West Bengal (existing IIM)
My guess is that if indeed 4 more new IIMs are announced, and we are on target with respect to our guess on the IIT locations, then the underlined ones above will have the best chances for having IIMs.
August 2nd, 2007
Following is the report from Times of India on this. I hope the full planning commission approves this idea.
NEW DELHI: In a major rollout for high and technical education, Planning Commission has proposed a seven-year special plan (2007-14) which includes setting up eight new IITs, seven new IIMs, 20 NITs, 20 IIITs and 50 centres for training and research in frontier areas.
Of the IITs, three have already been cleared and one IIM at Shillong has received the green signal. The seven-year special plan for higher and technical education would start in the 11th Plan and spill over to the next without being diluted. The plan panel has proposed a funding of Rs 1.31 lakh crore for the seven year plan.
The full Planning Commission will discuss the proposal threadbare when it meets on August 6 to deliberate exclusively on the impetus that should be delivered to education for the 11th Plan.
The special plan envisages setting up of 30 central universities. One central university will be located in each of the 16 uncovered states while 14 new ones of world class will come up in states which provide land free of cost in attractive locations.
These universities will have various schools including medical and engineering institutions. Also, 370 new degree colleges in districts with low gross enrolment ratio would be established and 6,000 colleges would be strengthened.
In the field of technical education, the seven-year plan talks of expansion and upgradation of 200 technical institutions in various states. There is also a plan to upgrade seven technical universities which include Bengal Engineering College, Howrah, Cochin University of Science & Technology, Andhra University Engineering College, Vishakapatnam, University Engineering College, Osmania University, Jadavpur University, Institute of Technology BHU and Zakir Husain College of Engineering & Technology, AMU.
Apart from eight IITs and seven IIMs, there is a plan to have five Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research, two Schools of Planning and Architecture, 20 National Institutes of Technology, 20 Indian Institutes of Information Technology and 50 centres of training and research in frontier areas.
The central assistance under the special plan has a very strong reform component and looks up to states to agree for a minimum set of reforms to restructure higher education system covering admission, revision in curricula, collaboration with foreign universities and networking.
August 2nd, 2007
Earlier we touched upon the working group recommendation in the 11th plan. Going through the report of the higher education working group we noticed the following recommendation (in Section 3.4.3 page 20) with respect to central universities in the north eastern region.
- Faculty of medical studies needs to be established in all central universities in the north eastern region.
I think the proposed central university in Koraput should be treated at par with central universities in the north eastern region.
July 8th, 2007
(Copied from the Planning Commission’s website)
Planning Commission
Government of India
Report of the Oversight Committee to Monitor Implementation of Reservation in Higher Educational Institutions.
July 8th, 2007
Following are excerpts on this topic from a Business standard report:
The government has allocated Rs 1,920 crore for setting up 16 central universities in states which do not have one so far . The plan was announced by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh recently.
Once these universities are in place, the government plans to have two central universities in each state.
“The government has set aside Rs 1,920 crore for setting up 16 central universities in 16 states that lack such varsities till now,” an official in the Ministry of Human Resource Development told Business Standard.
The allocation would take care of non-recurring costs like infrastructure and recurring costs like salaries and other yearly expenditures throughout the Eleventh Plan period.
“While Rs 60 crore is the non-recurring cost to set up a varsity, an yearly amount of Rs 12 crore would be made available for five years to take care of the recurring costs of a university,” the source said.
While estimates point that setting up one full-fledged central university costs around Rs 400 crore, the ministry expects the amount of Rs 120 crore to take care of the initial expenses like the construction of buildings and staff salaries. Since the state governments are expected to provide the required land, the amount is being considered sufficient for now. …
The source said that once the 16 universities were in place, the government would go ahead to set up two central universities in every state. There are 20 central universities in the country at present.
July 7th, 2007
Hindustan Times reports on further development on the HRD front with respect to the 11th plan. Following are some excerpts.
… Planning Commission recommending higher remuneration for faculty and mandatory curricula revision every three years.
The commission said the government should look at alternate ways to improve the wages of professors and to tap the large pool of teachers of Indian origin. "The faculty can get a share of the money earned from research projects for the corporate world. Even research students can earn from these," a government official said.
The commission also proposed that some faculty be recruited on salaries higher than government pay scales, on contract basis for five years with no assurance of automatic renewal. The contract system would be mostly for NRIs with special research funding support. Tenured appointments should also be available at a certain stage for professors achieving objectively set academic standards, Planning Commission vice-chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia said in a presentation to the PM. …
The government aims to bring two per cent students under the scholarship fold and double the number of junior research fellowships. This is aimed at improving research quality. It is also working on information communication technology for all 367 universities and on connecting 18,000 colleges through the National Knowledge Network, as recommended by the National Knowledge Commission, the commission said.
The commission also said it had given in-principle approval to the setting up of three new IITs, seven new IIMs, 20 National Institutes of Technology, five Indian Institutes of Science Education Research, 20 IIITs, two Schools of Planning and Architecture.
Lets elaborate a bit on the last sentence.
- The three IIT locations are announced as Bihar, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh.
- Among the seven new IIMs, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Shillong (Meghalaya) are three of the locations. The remaining four locations are as yet unrevealed. (This calculation probably does not take into account the recent news that IIM Lucknow is establishing a campus in NOIDA, in the New Delhi metropolitan area. Also, note that IIM Bangalore is making good progress towards establishing a campus in Singapore.)
- The 20 NITs are existing ones.
- The five IISERs are in Kolkata, Pune, Mohali (Punjab), Kerala and Bhopal.
- The 20 IIITs will be one in each of the major states.
- The two SPAs are announced to be in Bhopal and Vijaywada.
July 7th, 2007
This PIB article mentioned plans for establishing new central universities. Hindustan Times has a news report elaborating on various aspects of the new central universities. Following are some excerpts:
A common entrance admission test for all Central universities, a uniform semester and credit system to allow easy mobility for students may come into force. …
“The common national entrance test for 30 Central Universities, including 14 new ones to be set up, to ensure top quality student intake, would be the same as the JNU test, which is well regarded and has been accepted,” a senior government official said.
JNU governance model of complete autonomy will also be adopted in all universities to check “political interference” in the appointment of vice-chancellors and faculty, the official added.
The semester system would also be similar to that of JNU’s, with a facility for a student to break away for a year or two and return, if he or she wishes.
All new 14 Central universities will have an engineering school, a management school and a law school, but would be allowed to charge higher fees than the conventional courses, the presentation states.
The presentation also recommends increasing the fee for undergraduate courses to Rs 12,000 per annum with 40 per cent of students getting substantial scholarships.
“The fee structure should cover 20 per cent of the cost for running the university,” the official said. The government also wants to set up a Central government loan guarantee mechanism, which will cover 75 per cent of the loan amount in case of default by students obtaining loans from the banks.
The underlined sentence above says 14 new central universities, while the PM’s address had said 30 central universities. Perhaps it may mean that there will be 14 new central universities while 16 will be upgradations. If that is the case and indeed the new central universities have an engineering school, a management school and a law school, then all these will most likely would be part of the earlier mentioned central university in Koraput. That would be really great.
July 6th, 2007
Dear Readers:
I hope many of you are enraged and disgusted by this repeated injustice meted out to Orissa by the MHRD; especially now it seems that the MHRD has orchestrated hijacking of a good, sensible and extremely relevant idea proposed by our chief minister: the idea of tribal central university in the KBK region with the goal of catering to the 50% tribal population in that area and 38% tribal population across Orissa.
Often many have blamed the Orissa government for not taking timely initiatives or not coming up with innovative ideas, but this time it took the initiative, it suggested a great idea, followed up on it regularly, but the end result is same; the idea gets implemented in the home state of the minister of HRD Mr. Arjun Singh.
We must convey our displeasure, disgust, deep disappointment and anger to the central government. Please fax a letter to the PMO (fax numbers: 011-2301-8668, 2301-5470, 2301-5603, 2301-8939 ) and also fax a copy of that letter to the CMO (0674-2400100 ) and Mr. Chandrasekhar Sahu (011-23061695), the sole central minister from Orissa. After that we must follow-up with the CMO (cmo@ori.nic.in) by email and Mr. Sahu by phone (Personal Secy: 09868501233 off: 011-23792469, 23792470) and tell them to take our faxes and meet the PM and the national press with all our faxes and do a dharana until the two immediate injustices of moving an IIT in Orissa after it was announced and stealing the idea of a tribal university proposed for the KBK area are corrected. Following are some pointers and points which may help in writing your letter. I am making it short so that its easier for you to draft the letter.
Continue Reading June 18th, 2007
The PIB says the following:
The Union Cabinet today gave its approval for establishment of Indira Gandhi National Tribal University in Amarkantak, Madhya Pradesh with Central Government funding. It also approved introduction of the Indira Gandhi National Tribal University Bill, 2007 in the Parliament.
This would ensure establishment of a teaching and affiliating University for facilitating and promoting avenues of higher education and research facilities for the tribal population of the country.
The objects of the University include inter-alia, promoting studies and research in tribal art, culture, tradition, language, custom, medicinal systems, forest based economic activities, including special studies in the flora and fauna, and advancements in technologies relating to natural resources of the tribal areas.
Apart from affiliating the colleges, the University has the power to establish such number of its own regional centers in tribal areas as the University may deem fit.
There will be at least one school in every regional Centre, to serve as a model school for the schools of the region, where from the tribal students would be expected to join the local colleges, the off-campuses or the University.
Another news item mentions the financial parameters and objectives of this university. It says:
The initial financial requirement of the proposed varsity is estimated at Rs.600 million and a recurring expenditure of Rs.120 million annually.
‘The objects of the university include inter-alia, promoting studies and research in tribal art, culture, tradition, language, custom, medicinal systems, forest based economic activities, including special studies in the flora and fauna, and advancements in technologies relating to natural resources of the tribal areas,’ Information and Broadcasting Minister P.R. Dashmunsi said after a cabinet meeting.
The Rs 600 million number sounds too low. My guess is that it is a typo and the unit should be crores instead of millions.
**
A tribal central university, or central universities in tribal areas is a good idea about which I earlier wrote in Indian Express. However, a similar idea was suggested by Orissa, couple of years back, which the HRD minister had appreciated. Following is an excerpt from the press release issued by Orissa government at that time:
… In addition to this, Shri Patnaik also requested for establishment of a Central University for the KBK Region, which is one of the most backward regions in the country. He pointed out that there was a heavy concentration of the scheduled tribe and scheduled caste population in this region, which has a literacy rate below 50%. Shri Patnaik stated that setting up a Central University in the KBK region would go a long way in encouraging higher education among tribal population. He added that the university could also set up specialized centres for tribal development related studies, as tribal development was one of the biggest challenges facing the country today. Shri. Arjun Singh appreciated the rationale of having a Central University in the KBK region and sought a formal proposal in this regard from the State Government. He assured that this would receive high priority whenever the Central Government considers setting up of new central universities.
Orissa MPs also pursued it and we had sent detail proposal on it to the planning commission and HRD ministry and the PM. I hope the HRD minister did not just steal the idea to his home state. Such opportunistic behavior by the HRD ministry would discourage states with suggesting ideas.
However, a silver line is that the PM has mentioned recently that each state will have a central university. The question is when will that happen.
Moreover, regardless of that happening, central ministers should not steal ideas proposed by states to their own state. They are supposed to look out for the whole country not steal things to their states. To do things for their state they have the MPLAD.
June 15th, 2007
The planning commission’s web pages on Education related working groups and steering committees are given at http://planningcommission.nic.in/plans/planrel/11thf.htm and we copy and paste them below.
Some of the links that are of immediate interest to me are: (a) the constitution of the technical education working group (their report is not out yet) (b) the constitution and report of the higher education working group and (c) the constitution and report of the science and technology working group. I will post excerpts from them in the coming days.
Continue Reading April 2nd, 2007
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