HRD panel set up to curb 'brain drain', facilitate 'Study in India'

NEW DELHI: The HRD ministry has set up a committee to form guidelines and suggest measures to ensure that more students study in India and there is smooth transition for students returning from abroad in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The panel, headed by the UGC chairman, will also recommend a mechanism to increase intake in well-performing universities in the country, HRD minister Ramesh Pokhriyal said on Friday.

Pokhriyal held a meeting on "Stay in India and Study in India" with senior officials and heads of autonomous/ technical organisations to address the needs of students aspiring to go abroad and the concerns of those returning to the country due to the pandemic.
The minister said because of Covid-19 crisis, many students who wanted to pursue studies abroad have decided to stay back and pursue their studies in India. He said there are also a rising number of students returning to India with concern about completion of their studies and the ministry should make efforts to look into the needs of both these categories of students.



Pokhriyal said during 2019, around 7.5 lakh students travelled abroad to pursue higher studies and because of this valuable foreign exchange moved out of India. He said the government had aimed at increasing intake capacity in all premier institutions by 50% by 2024 besides increasing the number of institutes of eminence to 50 during this period.

The committee will explore mechanism for starting multi-disciplinary and innovative programmes, twinning and joint degree programmes, cross-country designing of centres, facilitating online lectures by eminent faculty from abroad, linkages between academia and industry, facilitate lateral entry to Indian higher education institutions. The committee is expected to submit its report within 15 days.