PMO Directs HRD to Establish Autonomous Universities

The Prime Minister Office (PMO) has reportedly given directions to the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) to accelerate the plan to establish 10 private autonomous universities for research, development and innovation.

The step will open the doors for introduction of private universities and institutions for higher studies in the country.

Currently, a number of private universities are administrated by the University Grants Commission (UGC) but, under this plan all these private universities will be free of government control. They all will have their own curriculum rules and regulations.  They will also have full rights of recruiting the faculty, staff and other imperative aspects of administration.

Following the trends of Stanford and Princeton universities in the US, these universities will provide students advanced infrastructure for research and innovation in different domains, including information technology, medicine, agriculture and biotechnology.

“The directive from the PMO is being deliberated in the ministry and we could soon come out with a framework to set up such universities,” an HRD ministry official said.

However, there is  no clarity as yet, on how this could be achieved.

“If these are set up through an act of Parliament like the institutes of national importance, (IIMs, IITs or NITs), the government will have to pass separate bills for each university. Again, if they come into existence by modifying the UGC act, they will have to follow the regulatory body’s guidelines,” a source said.

 At present India has four types of Universities. They are:

• Central Universities
• State Universities
• Deemed Universities
• Private Universities

Central and Deemed universities are incepted by an act passed by the Parliament. Deemed universities are recognised by the UGC if they fulfil certain conditions. State and private universities are initiated by state legislations.