No ‘world class’ tag for institutes

New Delhi: The government, which was to set up 20 institutions under the banner of “World Class Institutions”, has now decided to go for a change in nomenclature and replace the title with “Institutions of Eminence”. 

Sources stated that the change in title under the proposed regulation was made after it was felt that with none of Indian institutions even figuring in the top 100 in world ranking it would be a presumptuous tag. 

Narendra Modi government plans to set up 20 “Institutions of Eminence” that are expected to have world class faculty, facilities and infrastructure. The Union human resource development ministry has finished working on regulations to set up these institutes and is soon expected to prepare a note for Cabinet’s approval.  

Sources said that the detailed consultation process with stakeholders for the setting up of these universities has already been completed and a note is soon expected to be put up for approval of the Cabinet. In the last Union Budget, finance minister Arun Jaitley had announced the setting up of these institutions and grant them autonomy under a new regulatory framework.

It is understood that the country is also expected to seek collaboration with leading international universities to set up its own world class institutions. The HRD ministry is still finalising the exact nature of the partnership. 

Sources stated that instead of developing all 20 new institutions, the HRD may identify existing higher educational institutions to develop them as “Institutions of Eminence”. Institutions with adequate infrastructure, faculty and academic relations with the outside world, besides excellent research and innovation works and ethics, may be selection criteria for such institutes.

The government plans to set up these universities over the next few years. A project enjoys a strong backing from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The plan is to develop these universities as global centres of excellence. 

It is understood that the selected institutions to be given complete autonomy in academic, administrative and financial matters. These institutions will also be able to take a call on faculty hiring (including foreign teachers), salaries, fees, courses and curriculum. India has no representation in international rankings of educational institutions.

The UPA government had also mooted a similar proposal with the Universities for Research and Innovation Bill, 2012 which aimed to set up 14 world-class universities.