52 universities to get more autonomy including JNU, UoH and Jadavpur: Govt

The Jawaharlal Nehru University, University of Hyderabad and Jadavpur University are among some of the top varsities that have been granted greater autonomy to start new courses, plan their own syllabi and collaborate with foreign institutions, Union human resource development minister Prakash Javadekar announced on Tuesday.

Javadekar said 52 varsities – five central universities, 21 state universities, 24 deemed universities and two private universities – figure among the 60 higher educational institutions that will benefit from the government’s initiative. “Although these universities will remain within the UGC’s ambit, they will have the freedom to launch new courses, off-campus centres, skill development courses, research parks and new academic programmes. They will also have the freedom to hire foreign faculty members, enroll foreign students, give incentive-based emoluments to faculty members, enter into academic collaborations and run open-distance learning programmes,” he said.

It was learnt that the Delhi University was unable to apply for this scheme as their NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council) grading was incomplete.

While the government has liberalised regulations to provide greater autonomy to top institutions, it is also taking steps against deemed-to-be universities that aren’t high on performance. Javadekar said a show cause notice will be given to the Institute of Advance Studies in Education in Rajasthan; Vinayaka Missions Research Foundation in Salem (Tamil Nadu); and the Meenakshi Academy of Higher Education and Research in Chennai, which are reportedly lacking in quality. The Supreme Court had earlier cancelled engineering degrees given by these institutes.

Officials said universities that have been granted autonomy will be free to launch new courses and departments, and enter into collaborations with foreign educational institutions, without seeking the UGC’s permission. They will also be exempt from regular UGC inspections, obtaining appraisals on the basis of self-reporting. Besides this, they will be allowed to hire global talent for up to 20% of their total faculty strength and fill up 20% of their seats with international students.

The UGC had earlier approved the (Categorisation of Universities for Grant of Graded Autonomy) Regulations-2018, under which autonomy was granted to these institutes.

“This is certainly a welcome step. They have reduced the oversight of the UGC, which is crucial. Its role has been extremely regressive and counter-productive in the last few years. This will also reduce governmental interference in the day-to-day affairs of universities,” said Dinesh Singh, former vice-chancellor of Delhi University.

Universities accredited with a score of 3.51 and above by the NAAC fall under category I.