Tathya.in reports that this time nice debates are going on in the Odisha assembly.Following are some Samaja reports on debates relevant to education.
March 14th, 2010
Update: See also the reports in Deecan Herald, Zee News and Economic Times.
Following is an excerpt from a report in Indian Express.
Top educational institutes in the country could soon be converted to ‘Innovation Universities’ — complete with huge funds, unbridled academic freedom and linkages with foreign institutes.
Revising its views on the much-discussed 14 Innovation Universities and keeping in mind the long inception period involved in setting them up, the HRD Ministry has decided that it will alongside upgrade worthy institutes to Innovation varsities. The plan is said to have found PMO’s approval.
…In a new “Concept note”, now frozen by the HRD Ministry, it is proposed that India also recognise its national asset in the form of excelling educational institutes and facilitate — with marginal investment — their transition to match that of an “Innovation Varsity”.
Odisha needs to watch out this development and make sure it gets its fair share.
February 2nd, 2010
Following are excerpts from a report in Times of India.
In its revised concept note on the setting up of 14 Innovation Universities, the HRD ministry has proposed two types of reservation policy for these institutions, some of which will be directly funded by the government while a few will be in the PPP mode.
Within PPP, it has been proposed that world class universities from abroad might also be invited to set up similar such institutes here. The government will be a partner in the establishment and research programme while the cost of teaching will be funded by the promoter university.
The Innovation Universities fully-funded by the government will follow the existing reservation policy in admission for SCs/STs/OBCs. The Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006, will be applicable in their case.
However, in case of Innovation Universities in PPP mode, the HRD note says affirmative action cannot be wished away. Therefore, it has been suggested to weight the test scores with a measure for the socio-economic background of the candidates. …
There has also been a slight modification about auditing of accounts. While the money spent by a university or faculty on research or teaching will be kept out of the purview of Comptroller and Auditor General, the expenditure on administration or non-academic areas will be audited by CAG.
Two modes of establishment of Innovation Universities have also been decided. While those fully-funded by the government will come up through an Act of Parliament, the ones through PPP will be established through a Memorandum of Understanding. Financial, academic and research credentials of the private promoter will be the main criterion in selecting them to collaborate with the government.
The Innovation Universities will also have the freedom to decide on their own admission policy.
The 14 Innovation Universities will come up in Amritsar, Greater Noida, Jaipur, Patna, Guwahati, Kolkata, Bhopal, Kochi, Gandhinagar, Coimbatore, Mysore, Pune, Vishakhapatnam, Bhubaneswar.
January 30th, 2010
Following is an excerpt from a PTI report on this.
Sibal said the government wants to set up 14 innovation universities on various themes and these institutions will earn revenue from various areas, including research.
Brown, however, differed from Sibal on the proposed economic model for the Innovation Universities and said that major funding will have to come from tuition fee.
"This is not going to work. In our university, 50 percent of revenue comes from tuition fee despite the university having a billion dollar of Endowment fund. The universities here will have to depend on tuition fee," he said.
Sibal retorted back, saying that the investment involved in setting a university in India will be less than the cost in the US.
He said institutes should not be charge exorbitantly on students. They can generate revenue from other sources.
The government will set up a Higher Education Finance Corporation to provide funding to poor students for study. The students can pay back the money over a period of time, he said. The HRD Ministry has prepared a bill to set up the corporation.
The loans will be made available for students pursuing professional courses, he said.
I am a bit confused about the innovation universities being on various themes. I thought they were supposed to be multi-dsiciplinary universities aiming to become like Oxford, Cambridge and Berkely.
January 10th, 2010
Following is an excerpt from a report in Economic Times.
The Reliance Group is setting up a ‘world-class’ university as it seeks to promote education and research in sectors ranging from liberal arts to technology .
… India’s largest business conglomerate has started the process of identifying land for the proposed university , according to persons familiar with the development.
The university, modelled on the lines of American universities such as The University of Pennsylvania, will tie up with foreign universities. “It will be international in scale and in best practices, but with an Indian soul,” said Mukesh Ambani, chairman, Reliance Group.
Nita Ambani told ET that the proposed university would be located either outside Mumbai or Delhi. “We are looking for sufficient land to set up a world-class university,” she said.
Mr Ambani made this announcement while making the acceptance speech at Mumbai’s Tident Hotel after receiving the Dean’s medal from the University of Pennsylvania’s engineering school. …
The university will initially offer undergraduate courses. It will later offer postgraduate and doctoral courses, Ms Ambani said. India’s big business houses are strengthening their focus on education as it is poised to become a $80-billion opportunity by 2012. Indian spend $50 billion on private education annually, according to a research report by IDFC. It is expected to grow at a CAGR of 16%, said a CLSA Pacific study.
This is great news for India. I hope things move faster with respect to Vedanta University. Otherwise it will lose its first mover’s advantage. Another thing to note is that some of the people who were/?are? involved in the Vedanta University project also have University of Pennsylvania ties. They are doing a great thing by convincing various billionaires in India to establish universities that aim to be world class.
January 9th, 2010
Following is from a report in Business Standard.
Ivy League colleges – Yale, Harvard, Princeton and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology – have approached the ministry of human resources development to collaborate in the proposed Innovation Universities across the country, official sources said.
These universities are a part of the ministry’s “brain gain” policy to attract talent from all over the world. Human Resources Development Minister Kapil Sibal had last August announced that 14 Innovation Universities will be set up in the country under the 11th Five-year Plan (2007-12).
During his visit to the US in October, Sibal had met senior functionaries of three top universities – Harvard, Yale and MIT – and had discussed the prospects of them setting up Innovation Universities in India in partnership and collaboration with Indian institutions.
Sam Pitroda, the well-known technocrat and the head of the National Knowledge Commission, is learnt to be drafting the details for establishing the Innovation Universities. “Pitroda will soon meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and discuss the matter. An announcement on the details could come up during the Republic Day ceremonies,” said a source close to the development.
The ministry is also looking at public-private partnerships for establishing some of the Innovation Universities. This means that these universities would be autonomous, and outside the purview of the University Grants Commission or the All India Council for Technical Education.
January 3rd, 2010
Following is an excerpt from a report in Times of India.
Sibal, who was speaking at a Singapore Symposium here, said both India and Singapore will cooperate in setting up 14 innovation universities in India.
India needs modern universities to bridge the huge skill shortage gap and Singapore can be the best country to partner with in this area. Infrastructure, education, and skill development are the potential areas of cooperation between the two countries," he said.
Sibal said India is grappling with the challenge of building architecture for 21st century cities and cooperation with Singapore in this sector can be beneficial in identifying a possible solution.
Singapore has achieved an enormous level of excellence in innovation and India is rich in skilled manpower, and greater cooperation between the two countries can result in win-win opportunities for the two countries," he added.
Sibal said India has very recently initiated steps to reform the education sector and added that positive results are expected by 2014.
Following is excerpted from a PTI report in Hindu.
With a large number of rural people migrating to urban areas, the government is planning to set up an innovation university dedicated to study and research in sustainable city development, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal said today.
This university will work on all issues, including city planning, water management, urban transport, housing and energy, he said at ‘The Singapore Symposium’ here.
The government will set up 14 innovation universities. One of them could be on the area of city development which will work on technology solutions for urban planning,” he said.
Mr. Sibal said that urban areas in the country are yet to be developed. They suffer from myriad problems starting from power crisis to drainage and water management. The government is looking for partnerships with various agencies for starting such innovative universities.
Why cannot we have a partnership with Singapore to move forward?” he asked.
The government is in the process of setting up 14 innovation universities aiming at world class standards. Some of these universities would be set up in partnership with foreign institutions.
After US and UK, Singapore is the third country where the Inidan government has mentioned possible partnership/co-operation for developing its proposed innovation universities.
December 16th, 2009
Update: Samaja has a report on this where it first says that the Central Univ in Koraput was demanded to be named after Utkalmani and then it says that the central univ in Bhubaneswar was demanded to be named after Utkalmani. See the article at the bottom. I guess different people in the assembly demanded different things.
Following is from a report in Orissadiary.com.
During the 11th Yojna there is a proposal to open a Central University in Bhubaneswar. The Chief Whiff of Opposition Prasad Harichandan Demanded in the House on Friday to request the Centre for name the University as Utkalmani Central University. Legislature Santosh Singh Saluja also seconded the proposal.
Just to avoid confusion, the 11th plan details are already in place and the central university mentioned above in all probability refers to one of the two central universities (for Orissa) out of the 30 that are being established in India during the 11th plan. Following is a walk through on how the name evolved from "world class central university" to "national university" to "innovation university." However, many still refer to it as central university which has caused some confusion.
On March 28th 2008 http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=36955 it was announced that:
State-wise List of Cities Identified for locating 14 Central Universities during the XIth Plan which would aim to achieve world class standards
…
12. Orissa - Bhubaneshwar
Later on April 21, 2008 it was mentioned in the Rajya Sabha (see http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=37684)
It has also been decided to locate 14 world class Universities, one each in the 14 States / Regions as detailed in the Annexure.
Later on Dec 16 2008, it was mentioned in the Lok Sabha (see http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=45702 )
The Government proposes to establish 14 National Universities aiming towards world-class standards the 11th Plan period. A State- wise list of cities identified or locating these universities is annexed. A preliminary draft of the Concept Paper on setting up of these universities was prepared by an Expert Committee constituted by the University Grants Commission. The Expert Committee has held extensive consultations with eminent educationists, academics and policy makers. The relevant recommendations of the National Knowledge Commission have also been taken into consideration by the Expert Committee while revising the draft Concept Paper. The Concept Paper is, however, yet to be finalized by the Committee.
…
This information was given by Shri Arjun Singh, the Minister of Human Resource Development in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today.
The February 12th 2009 MHRD press release of MHRD minister Mr. Arjun Singh’s speech written for Bhubaneswar IIT foundation laying (which he did not attend) says the following (see http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=47448)
The Government of India in its Eleventh Plan has given a major thrust to education. The Central Government has taken several initiatives in respect of new institution building. These include setting up of 30 new Central Universities …
I am happy to say that the State of Orissa is also getting its due share. We have decided in this Plan Period to have in Orissa State, one Central University, one National University aiming for world class standards, …
On July 21 2009, the following was again mentioned in the Rajya Sabha. (See http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=50715)
The Government is considering a proposal to set up 14 Universities aiming at world class standards at the following locations:-
…
14. Bhubhaneshwar (Orissa)
Universities aiming at world class standards would act as exemplars for other universities including Central Universities, in benchmarking standards of teaching and research to those prevailing in the best universities in the world. This information was given by the Minister of State for Human Resource Development Smt. D. Purandeswari, in a written reply to a question, in the Rajya Sabha today.
Somewhere down the line, the nomenclature changed to "Innovation Universities" and two concept papers for it were made available at
Following are some excerpts from the first one:
… the XI Plan proposes the establishment of 14 Innovation Universities aimed at world class standards. These Universities would be at the fount of making India the global knowledge hub and set benchmarks for excellence for other Central and State Universities.
Past the 11th plan there is possibility of additional central and national/innovation universities. (The Knowledge commission has talked about 50 national universities.) Orissa should be ready for these. In particular infrastructure (read "airport") is often being mentioned as an important criteria; especially for the national/innovation universities. Thus before the 12th plan document starts getting drafted, Orissa must have the Jharsuguda and Rourkela airports in operation and Berhampur linked properly to the Bhubaneswar airport through regular airport shuttle.
In addition Orissa leadership should from the very beginning (of the 12th plan drafting) focus on other parts of Orissa; otherwise Orissa will completely miss out on the new developments of the 12th plan which is only 3 years away. More details on how Orissa government can proactively shape the 12th plan by being prepared and by pushing for institutions that can be established in less-developed places (Balangir, Bhawanipatna, etc.) is discussed in http://orissa2020.org.
Samaja’s confusing report is below.
December 6th, 2009
Following is from http://www.ficci.com/events/20009/ISP/richard.pdf.
Minister SibaI, Mr. Singhani, Mr. Mittal, Dr. Mitra, distinguished guests:
It is a great pleasure to be with you this morning, and an honor to have the opportunity to address this distinguished audience, filled as it is with a diverse and accomplished group of leaders from across India. I thank you for the opportunity.
Over the next two days, you will hear about many of the most pressing issues facing higher education in India, issues that are also challenging universities in the United States and across the globe: reforming regulation and accreditation; using technology; ensuring afford ability; and promoting publicprivate cooperation. All of these issues present opportunities to improve our universities and further the good work they do in society.
It is an honor to have with us today the Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Kapil Sibal.
Only a week ago, Minister Sibal visited Yale, and I was pleased to learn about his ambitious vision for higher education in India. He has shown intrepid leadership in fashioning the Ministry’s plans for new world-class universities, and for making the challenge of improving India’s higher education system a national priority.
There is no doubt that India possesses a number of educational institutions that have made their mark, and will continue to make their mark, on the world stage. The Indian Institutes of Technology, the Indian Institute of Science, and the Indian Institutes of Management are among these. But the rise of this country to become one of world’s economic powerhouses begs for expansion in India’s higher education system. The need is a striking one. India is already the world’s largest democracy. In two decades, it will be the most populated country in the planet, and by 2050, it is likely to become the second largest economy in the world.
We hear much about today’s "knowledge economy,” and for good reason: it is the innovation born at the world’s great universities – and the leaders who are trained there – that will drive the economic growth and continued prosperity of India and the world’s other leading economies in the coming decades.
With this in mind, Minister Sibal and the Indian government have rightly set the dual goals of increasing access to higher education and creating a group of new, worldclass universities. Today, only 12 percent of college-age Indian students pursue higher education. By contrast, in the United States, 63 percent of students go to college; among the 30 member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the average is 56 percent. Minister Sibal has articulated an ambitious target of 30 percent of Indian students pursuing higher education by 2020.
Increasing access will require the expansion of enrollment at existing institutions and the creation of many new ones at all levels. The new world-class universities will only contribute a small fraction of the required increase in enrollments throughout India, but they will play an especially prominent role in India’s future development.
First, however, these universities must be built, and that is what I will speak about today: the challenge of building world-class universities.
A great research university is not built from the bricks and mortar of its campus, but of the students and scholars who inhabit it, and the discourse and ideas they share. A university exists not for the purpose of handing out diplomas to those who go through its doors, but to advance knowledge and to educate young people to become critical thinkers and society’s leaders. Building a world-class university is far more than a construction project – it is building a community of knowledge, far more than it is building a campus. A world-class university avails its students not just of courses of study, but of an environment that facilitates learning and growth in all areas of human endeavor. The university is composed of many things: a distinguished and engaged faculty; broad library and museum collections; state-of-the-art laboratories and computing resources; and a wide range of extracurricular, cultural and athletic activities, to name just a few essential components.
At the most fundamental level, a world-class university contributes to the world in three ways: through research, through education, and through institutional citizenship.
First, by facilitating advancements in science, technology, and medicine, research universities help spur economic prosperity and the advancement in the health and quality of life in communities across the world.
Second, by educating students, great universities prepare the next generation of leaders, leaders who will be able to tackle new problems and new situations with maturity and flexibility and who see the world with curiosity and an open mind.
Third, by acting as models of institutional citizenship, world-class universities contribute to the betterment of society and instill in their students social responsibility and an appreciation of service to their communities.
Let me discuss each role of the university in turn.
Inspiring innovation
First and foremost, a world-class university must have a world-class faculty. This serves as the backbone of any institution. For a broad, comprehensive university to be considered world-class it must have a faculty that, through its research, is making significant contributions to the advancement of knowledge.
In our "knowledge economy," nations prosper by virtue of their capacity to innovate – to develop and introduce new products, processes, services, and even, new ways of thinking. The extent to which such innovation happens is a function of the continuing advance of science.
As the principal source of basic research, comprehensive universities playa fundamental and irreplaceable role in encouraging economic development and national competitiveness. This basic research is motivated by the quest for intellectual discovery, not some practical objective-but in the long run, it is the wellspring for all commercially oriented research and development. That fact, that fundamental research occurs within the university – rather than in government laboratories, non-teaching research institutes, or private industry – is an essential element of allowing a university to realize its full potential. When researchers are isolated in research institutes, students – especially undergraduates are deprived of exposure to first-rate scientists, their methods, and their research. Absent the best scientists, the quality of teaching will suffer, and the curriculum is less likely to include the most novel thinking and innovative approaches.
World-class research requires substantial resources, and it is important to allocate these resources to produce maximum social benefit. This is one area where America has far outstripped the rest of the world, by allocating its public funding for research not by seniority and not by political give-and-take, but through the strict meritocracy of peer review. India would be well advised to adopt this model.
The research undertaken in universities must not stay in the academic buildings and laboratories where it is born. To drive national innovation, it must move from theory to practice, and the university plays a key role in this process as well. Engagement with industry is a central function of the modem research university, as commercializing faculty inventions benefits both the university and the broader
society.
Training future leaders
Second, just as faculty members contribute, through their scholarship and research, to the intellectual vigor of their nation and the world, they also serve to shape the future leaders of their nation and, again, the world.
The phrase "the knowledge economy" that is so often spoken about would seem to suggest that universities impart to young people what is most obvious – that is, knowledge. But the best universities do not practice the mere transfer of knowledge from teacher to student. They focus not on the mastery of content, but on the development of their students’ capacity for independent, critical thinking.
Universities exist to teach young people how to think, not what to think. The best American universities seek to educate undergraduates not to be experts in a particular field, but to be creative, flexible, and adaptive; to approach problems critically and to collaborate with others to solve them; and to be able to understand different cultures and adapt to new environments. Universities like Yale train undergraduates not for a profession, but for life.
The method of education employed by America’s most selective universities what we know as the "liberal education" of undergraduates – is particularly well suited to preparing students to enter the rapidly-changing modem world. Courses are not principally about a student mastering a body of knowledge, but about that student’s mind being stretched. This must be a guiding light in the creation of a course of study: as many classes as possible should be small, small enough to take shape as active discussions, not as lectures passively attended. Students must be challenged not to memorize, but to analyze. Professors must serve as mentors, as sources of inspiration, not merely as lecturers and graders.
Students, too, should not find their development limited to the classroom. Students at Yale often say that they learn more over meals with their peers in university dining halls than they do in classrooms and lecture halls. In addition, extracurricular activities- producing a play, singing in an a cappella group, writing for a campus publication – help teach skills in teamwork, communication, and collaboration that students later put to use as their careers develop.
Bettering society
Third, a world-class university leads by example, both in its local community and in the-world. Acts of institutional citizenship have benefits on two levels: they represent a positive force for human welfare, and they also inspire students to embrace social responsibility in their own lives. To illustrate this point, I will give examples of institutional citizenship both locally and globally.
When I became Yale’s president in 1993, the city of New Haven had a distinctly negative external image. As soon as I took office, we created a comprehensive strategy to engage with our surrounding community, partnering with public officials and neighborhood groups to better the city in which we live. Our initiatives included an internship program to allow students to work in schools, community service organizations, and local government; a Homebuyer Program to subsidize home purchases by our faculty and staff in neighborhoods around the campus; a concerted effort to spin-off Yale research into commercial ventures, particularly in biotechnology and medicine, and a major investment in the redevelopment of the downtown retail district. As a result of these actions, our community has been dramatically strengthened.
On a more global scale, consider the issue of reducing carbon emissions. The problem of global warming requires a multinational solution, and no solution will succeed without the cooperation of the United States and India. But universities can and should – play an important role in the effort to curtail global warming, both in their research and in setting standards for their own carbon emissions. In 2005, Yale made a commitment to reduce carbon emissions to 10 percent below our 1990 level by the year 2020, which equates to a 43 percent reduction in our 2005 carbon footprint. If the nations of the world were to negotiate such a reduction in carbon emissions later this year at their meeting in Copenhagen, the planet would be much better off.
Of course, we acknowledge that even the most ambitious sustainability efforts at the world’s universities will not have a measurable impact on global carbon emissions. But in keeping with our mission as a teaching institution, we seek to inspire our students and lead by example. And I believe that the collective leadership of the world’s universities on this important issue may very well serve, over time, to make meaningful global cooperation more likely.
Conclusion
There is no doubt that expanding access to higher education in India is an imperative, and Minister Sibal and others should be commended for understanding its importance. Expanding access to higher education will raise the general standard of living and create avenues of upward mobility for the most disadvantaged. With adequate investment of resources, expanding access is an achievable objective; it has been done before, in Europe and Japan following the second World War, and in China within the last eleven years.
But building world-class universities is a Herculean task. It has never been done before in one concerted effort, by one country. And it requires more than money. But if India succeeds, the impact on Indian society and its aspirations to world leadership will be limitless. It is through world-class universities that the seeds of innovation are planted arid the next generation of leaders acquires the capacity to lead. As this dream is pursued, it will be important to ensure that even these elite universities are accessible and affordable, and not merely available to those whose families can pay for it.
The challenge is immense, but the potential gains are commensurate with the challenge. Through their research, teaching, and institutional citizenship, a new set of great universities will strengthen this society, and the people of India – and of the rest of the world – will reap the benefits.
November 9th, 2009
Update:
HRD Minister Mr. Kapil Sibal spent last several days in the US trying to convince top US universities to collaborate and open branches in India. His talk at MIT is here http://techtv.mit.edu/tags/5218-sibal/videos/4310-mit-india-forum-2009. (Thanks to a commentator at Abi’s blog for the pointer.)
I wish some people of Orissa had not created road block for Vedanta University. If it had made progress as scheduled then it would have put the Bhubaneswar-Puri area in the map of top knowledge centers of India and there would have been a higher chance of some good foreign (especially US) universities thinking about having some operations in Orissa. As it stands now Orissa may lose the window of opportunity it has. Unless Orissa quickly positions itself among the top knowledge centers of India, the top foreign universities will give it a skip and it may again take a long long time for Orissa to catch up.
November 5th, 2009
Update: The following was written before I saw this article in Pioneer.
Tathya.in has a report on Dr. Digamabara Patra’s request for a national or central university in Bhawanipatna, Kalahandi. A lot of the arguments made there make sense. Many of the recent central universities have been established in rural and semi-urban areas and indeed there is no reason why one should not be established in Bhawanipatna; especially since its citizens have been asking for one for more than 2 decades.
However, as mentioned in the article http://www.orissalinks.com/archives/3229 adequate infrastructure seems to have been an important factor in determining the locations of the new IITs, IIMs and National universities.
For Orissa to have them in locations ouside of Bhubaneswar, there are two ways to go about it.
- Argue that adequate infrastructure should not be a requirement or they will automatically come once the institutions are established.
- Develop areas outside Bhubaneswar to have adequate infrastructure.
To me pursuing (2) has a higher chance of success than pursuing (1) and even if (1) is successful the institutes/universities in locations without appropriate infrastructure will struggle until the infrastructure eventually catches up which may take a long time if just left to fate. (Such a struggle may result in Orissa not being given in appropriate numbers additional central/national institutes.)
[In India people sometime point out that IIT Kharagpur was established in a rural location. First, Kharagpur is only 116 kms from Howrah. Second it has been a major railway junction for a long time. Third it was the first IIT and for a long time only one of 5 IITs. Similarly Roorkee was the oldest engineering college and is close to Haridwar and Dehradun. There are a few top universities and institutions in the US that are in rural areas, but these are exceptions, and the infrastructure in rural areas of US are quite good compared to rural areas of India. For example, Univ of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and Penn State University in State College, PA are often mentioned in that context. But both do have small airports with commercial flights.]
Before we suggest what needs to be done regarding developing areas outside Bhubaneswar to have adequate infrastructure, let us address what may be coming in the future and why Orissa needs to do this urgently so as to not risk missing future allocations of national institutions.
The National Knowledge Commission (NKC) in its December 2006 note on higher education has explicitly suggested 50 national universities in India. It says:
We recommend the creation of up to 50 National Universities that can provide education of the highest standard. As exemplars for the rest of the nation, these universities shall train students in a variety of disciplines, including humanities, social sciences, basic sciences, commerce and professional subjects, at both the undergraduate and post-graduate levels. The number 50 is a long term objective. In the short run, it is important to begin with at least 10 such universities in the next 3 years. It is worth noting that the National Universities need not all be new universities. Some of the existing universities could also be converted into National Universities, on the basis of rigorous selection criteria, to act as exemplars. We recognise that there could be a human resource constraint if faculty members are not available in adequate numbers to establish these universities.
The current government has implemented most of the recommendations of the NKC and exceeded some of them. For example, instead of the recommendation of 10 national universities in the three years following the report (2007-2010), establishment of 14 have been announced. Moreover, the higher education budget has been increasing drastically from one five year plan to the next. The 12th five year plan starts in 2012 and it is expected that it will take up on the long range objectives of the knowledge commission. In other words there could and should be more central and national universities in the 12th plan.
[My impression is that how soon additional national universities are established will depend on the success of the first 14. It seems to me that the locations of the first 14 have been greatly influenced by the consideration of, where in each of the states selecetd, does it have the best chance to succeed.]
Unless Orissa is prepared for it, Orissa may lose out pieces of those plans on lack of infrastructure grounds. Other states with multiple locations with adequate infrastructure will get preference and Orissa may lose out.
However, 2012 is still 3 years away and if adequate steps are taken very soon, Orissa should be able to get its fair share.
The pity is there are areas in Orissa which are on the verge of having the necessary infrastructure, mostly through private investment, but because of non-constructive opposition, blind suspicion towards industrialization and the relcucatnce of many to speak out in favour of development and industrialization, the development and associated infrastructure building has been greatly hampered. The governments (state and center) are also at fault for their sluggishness on some aspects.
Following are some suggestions:
- The state government should push for the completion of the airport in Jharsuguda within a year.
- It should make an all-out effort to have commercial flights operating out of the existing airport in Rourkela. In general, the people of the area need to recognize the existing infrastructure and potential of Rourkela and take advantage of it. Currently, as a friend of mine would say, Rourkela is an orphan. This is a pity. It is a big asset to Orissa, especially to the western parts of Orissa; but is severely underutilized and undermined.
- Coming back to Jharsuguda, the people there should follow a smarter approach in not opposing and rather facilitating industries coming up there, and at the same time being vigilant about environmental and land acquisition related R & R issues. If these industries and investment are allowed to materialize there soon, then Sambalpur-Jharsuguda area would become a large metro with adequate infrastructure to have and support any and all kinds of institutes and universities. But will the people do that? Or will they continue to be controlled by or scared of the anti-industry activists.
- Similarly, both Bhawanipatna (Lanjigarh to be precise) and Rayagada areas have industrial investors who have been senselessly opposed. If the people would take a smarter approach that mixes development with being vigilant about environmental and land acquisition related R & R then both these areas would be able to get infrastructure where a central university (and possibly more) would flourish. But will the people do that? Or will they continue to be controlled by or scared of anti-industry activists. In Lanjigarh, Kalahandi, the local MP has recently taken a more sensible approach. I hope there is a quick resolution as this area desperately needs development and the resulting infrastructure.
- The state government should push for the rail infrastructure, particularly, the Khurda-Balangir line, the Talcher-Bimlagarh line and connectivity to Kalahandi, to be completed at the earliest.
The above is extremely important for the development of the western parts of Orissa where there is often a feeling of neglect. If the people there do not follow a smarter approach and only follow the strange approach that many (not all) seem to be following (such as opposing industrialization and thus infrastructure building but wanting things that need infrastructure) the places that follow a smarter approach (inside and outside Orissa) would be gainers. The same is happening in some other places in Orissa too – Paradeep and Kalinganagar come to mind, but these places are in closer proximity to Bhubaneswar and because of that they may be less harmed.
October 4th, 2009
Tathya.in has a report that mentions some official saying that because of the lack of an airport in Rourkela central government will not agree to have ESIC medical college in Rourkela. I think this is a completely frivolous argument; I don’t see much connection between an ESIC medical college and an airport. (Often airport is a codeword for adequate infrastructure. If that is the case Rourkela indeed has the infrastructure for an ESIC medical college.)
However, in regards to certain centrally funded institutions, such a requirement is in the background and mentioned by journalists, even if they may not be spelled out explicitly. So while pushing for an ESIC medical college in Rourkela, we should set our target to push for more functioning airports as a next action item. Following is a more detailed analysis.
Given below are the locations of some national institutions and some related attributes. It is easy to see that for the locations of IITs, IIMs and National Universities being near (say within 120 kms or 2 hrs) an operational airport has been an important factor. For national universities, in addition being in a large (1 million plus metropolitan area) area with other research institutes has also been spelled out as an important criteria and it is reflected in the locations that are picked.
On the other hand, the newly established central universities are in towns of all sizes and the locations of the NITs are mixed. The next level centrally funded but locally focused technological institutes, SLIET, Longowal, ABAGKC IET, Malda and Central Institute of Technology, Kokrajhar are on purpose established in rural areas and smaller towns. Unlike the NITs these institutions take only local students and also have programs focused on local needs. Nevertheless, their quality need not be bad. For example, SLIET is considered quite good.
Looking to the future following are some points relevant to Orissa.
- For Orissa to have future central institutions like IIM, SPA, etc. to be in a location outside of Bhubaneswar, Orissa must push for the quick establishment of airports and other infrastructure in other parts of the state. For example, the airports in Jharsuguda and Rourkela are the closest to be operational and they should have scheduled flights at the earliest. Otherwise new centrally funded institutions may again be established near Bhubaneswar and crying hoarse after the fact may not be productive.
- Similarly the knowledge commission has proposed the establishment of 50 national universities in the long run. Considering that the education budget significantly increases from one 5 yr plan to the next, I would not be surprised if there is another set of them made during the 12th plan. Orissa must be prepared for that and by that time (there is a short window) have other areas in Orissa with adequate infrastructure that are being deemed necessary for a national university.
- Orissa must take advantage of the industrial and investment interests in Orissa, mostly due to its minerals, and develop metropolitan areas with larger population base. Currently the local people are creating roadblocks rather than helping in such development.
- In 2010 we should do our best to convince the planning commission, the PM and MHRD that the 12th plan (starting 2012) should include more centrally funded institutions of the kind that can be located in rural or semi-urban areas. In particular,
- A centrally funded but locally focused technological institute (like SLIET) in all states. The one in Orissa could be located in Kalahandi or Balangir, the other two KBK districts that lack centrally funded institutions.
- Two regional universities in each major states that are funded 50-50 by the state and the center. (This would be better than one centrally funded institute.)
- Multiple branches of Indira Gandhi National Tribal University in districts with high tribal population.
The NITs.
| City/Town |
State |
Population of city/town |
Population rank |
| Delhi |
Delhi |
18,639,762 |
2 |
| Surat |
Gujarat |
3,196,799 |
10 |
| Jaipur |
Rajasthan |
3,102,808 |
11 |
| Patna |
Bihar |
2,656,318 |
13 |
| Nagpur |
Maharashtra |
2,569,775 |
14 |
| Bhopal |
MP |
1,751,766 |
17 |
| Allahabad |
UP |
1,272,612 |
31 |
| Jamshedpur |
Jharkhand |
1,252,815 |
33 |
| Srinagar |
J & K |
1,104,489 |
41 |
| Calicut |
Kerala |
1,000,802 |
46 |
| Tiruchirapalli |
Tamil Nadu |
963,237 |
49 |
| Jalandhar |
Punjab |
958,854 |
50 |
| Raipur |
Chhatisgarh |
795,104 |
56 |
| Dehradun |
Uttarakhand |
738,889 |
57 |
| Warangal |
Andhra Pradesh |
656,298 |
61 |
| Surathkal, Mangalore |
Karnataka |
612,374 |
66 |
| Pudducherry |
Pudducherry |
575,027 |
71 |
| Rourkela |
Orissa |
550,668 |
75 |
| Durgapur |
West Bengal |
543,922 |
77 |
| Shillong |
Meghalaya |
304,596 |
136 |
| Aizawl |
Mizoram |
295,864 |
140 |
| Imphal |
Manipur |
279,679 |
147 |
| Agartala |
Tripura |
218,028 |
184 |
| Silchar |
Assam |
209,543 |
193 |
| Kurukshetra (Thaneswar) |
Punjab |
157,609 |
249 |
| Panaji |
Goa |
142,336 |
271 |
| Kohima |
Nagaland |
103,210 |
407 |
| Gangkot |
Sikkim |
32,483 |
|
| Hamirpur |
Himachal Pradesh |
17,219 |
|
The IITs.
| City – Metropolitan area |
State(s) |
Metro population |
Metro rank |
State or country Capital |
Rank in state |
Number 1 in the state |
Nearest airpot |
Preferred airport |
| Bombay |
Maharashtra |
21347412 |
1 |
Yes |
1 |
picked |
in area |
same |
| Delhi |
UP, Delhi, Haryana |
18639762 |
2 |
Yes |
1 |
picked |
in area |
same |
| Chennai |
Tamil Nadu |
7305169 |
4 |
Yes |
1 |
picked |
in area |
same |
| Hyderabad |
Andhra Pradesh |
6290397 |
6 |
Yes |
1 |
picked |
in area (60 kms away) |
same |
| Gandhinagar – Ahmedabad |
Gujarat |
5334314 |
7 |
Yes |
1 |
picked |
Ahmedabad (40 kms) |
same |
| Kanpur |
Uttar Pradesh |
3494275 |
9 |
No |
1 |
picked |
in area (only Air India) |
Lucknow (80 kms) |
| Patna |
Bihar |
2656318 |
13 |
Yes |
1 |
picked |
in area |
same |
| Indore |
Madhya Pradesh |
2049193 |
15 |
No |
1 |
picked |
in area |
same |
| Bhubaneswar |
Orissa |
1666429 |
22 |
Yes |
1 |
picked |
in area |
same |
| Guwahati |
Assam |
1038071 |
44 |
Yes |
1 |
picked |
in area |
same |
| Ropar – Chandigarh |
Punjab |
1033671 |
45 |
Yes |
3 |
Ludhiana (19) |
Chandigarh (60 kms away) |
same |
| Jodhpur |
Rajasthan |
987919 |
47 |
No |
2 |
Jaipur (11) |
in area |
same |
| Kharagapur |
West Bengal |
511303 |
82 |
No |
5 |
Kolkata (3) |
Kolkata (120 kms away) |
same |
| Roorkee – Haridwar |
Uttarakhand |
250645 |
166 |
No |
2 |
Dehradun (57) |
Dehradun (1 hr away) |
Delhi (180 kms) |
| Mandi |
Himachal Pradesh |
32014 |
|
No |
3 |
Shimla (194) |
Kullu-Manali airport (60 kms away) |
same |
National Universities
| City – Metropolitan area |
State(s) |
Metro population |
Metro rank |
State or country Capital |
Rank in state |
Number 1 in the state |
Airport with scheduled flights |
Other airport nearby |
| NOIDA – Delhi |
UP, Delhi, Haryana |
18639762 |
2 |
Yes |
1 |
picked |
yes |
|
| Kolkata |
West Bengal |
15414859 |
3 |
Yes |
1 |
picked |
yes |
|
| Gandhinagar – Ahmedabad |
Gujarat |
5334314 |
7 |
Yes |
1 |
picked |
yes |
|
| Pune |
Maharashtra |
5273211 |
8 |
No |
2 |
Mumbai (1) |
yes |
|
| Jaipur |
Rajasthan |
3102808 |
11 |
Yes |
1 |
picked |
Yes |
|
| Patna |
Bihar |
2656318 |
13 |
Yes |
1 |
picked |
yes |
|
| Bhopal |
Madhya Pradesh |
1751766 |
17 |
Yes |
2 |
Indore (15) |
yes |
|
| Bhubaneswar |
Orissa |
1666429 |
22 |
Yes |
1 |
picked |
yes |
|
| Coimbatore |
Tamil Nadu |
1644224 |
23 |
No |
2 |
Chennai (4) |
yes |
|
| Kochi |
Kerala |
1541175 |
24 |
No |
1 |
picked |
yes |
|
| Visakhapatnam |
Andhra Pradesh |
1511687 |
26 |
No |
2 |
Hyderabad (6) |
yes |
|
| Mysore |
Karnataka |
1230039 |
34 |
No |
2 |
Bangalore (5) |
New airport but no scheduled flights yet |
140 kms from Bangalore |
| Amritsar |
Punjab |
1206918 |
36 |
No |
2 |
Ludhiana (19) |
yes |
|
| Guwahati |
Assam |
1038071 |
44 |
Yes |
1 |
picked |
yes |
|
New Central Universities
| City – Metropolitan area |
State |
Metro population |
| Gandhinagar – Ahmedabad (temporary?) |
Gujarat |
5,334,314 |
| Srinagar |
J & K |
1,104,489 |
| Khunti, Ranchi |
Jharkhand |
1,066,449 |
| Jammu |
J & K |
690,924 |
| Bikaner |
Rajasthan |
624,577 |
| Gulbarga |
Karnataka |
534,417 |
| Sagar |
Madhya Pradesh |
351,537 |
| Bilaspur |
Chhatisgarh |
319,129 |
| Bathinda |
Punjab |
269,520 |
| Koraput-Sunabeda-Jeypore |
Orissa |
200,000 |
| Motihari |
Bihar |
121,475 |
| Tiruvarar |
Tamil Nadu |
61,270 |
| Kasaragod |
Kerala |
52,683 |
| Tehri Garhwal |
Uttarakhand |
25,425 |
| Mahendragarh |
Harayana |
23,977 |
| Kangra |
Himachal Pradesh |
9,155 |
IIMs
| City – Metropolitan area |
State |
Metro population |
Airport |
| Kolkata |
West Bengal |
15414859 |
in area |
| Bangalore |
Karnataka |
6466271 |
in area |
| Ahmedabad |
Gujarat |
5334314 |
in area |
| Lucknow |
Uttar Pradesh |
2991280 |
in area |
| Indore |
Madhya Pradesh |
2049193 |
in area |
| Ranchi |
Jharkhand |
1066449 |
in area |
| Kozhikode |
Kerala |
1000802 |
in area |
| Tiruchirapalli |
Tamil Nadu |
963237 |
in area |
| Raipur |
Chhatisgarh |
795104 |
in area |
| Dehradun |
Uttarakhand |
738889 |
in area |
| Udaipur |
Rajasthan |
456994 |
in area |
| Rohtak |
Haryana |
340319 |
71 kms from Delhi |
| Shillong |
Meghalaya |
304596 |
in area |
October 4th, 2009
Some of the first five IITs in Kharagpur, Mumbai, Chennai, Kanpur and Delhi were developed through mentorship by various foreign countries and organizations such as UNESCO. For example, IIT Bombay was helped by UNESCO and Soviet Union, IIT Madras was helped by Germany and IIT Kanpur by a consortium of 9 US universities.
The Union HRD minister Mr. Kapil Sibal seems to be looking for similar help for establishing the 14 innovation universities. Following is an excerpt from a report in Economic Times.
The ministry for human resource development is keen to tie up with the world’s leading universities to ensure that its “innovation universities” are a class apart from the pack. During his visit to the US in late October, the minister for human resource development Kapil Sibal would like to firm up MoUs with leading US universities to collaborate with the proposed innovation universities.
Among the American Universities that are being approached are Yale, Standford and MIT. The government plans to set up 14 innovation universities over the next few years.
The government proposes to set up these universities as “global centres of innovation” and would like to draw on the talent and expertise of leading universities. “We are looking for a collaboration for two or three of the innovation universities,” a senior ministry official said. India has had a history of collaborating with leading international universities to set up her own world class institutions.
… Mr Sibal, who will be travelling to the US ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s state visit in November, will leading a delegation to put in place the India-US Education Council.
September 29th, 2009
The documents are at:
* http://www.education.nic.in/uhe/Universitiesconceptnote.pdf
* http://www.education.nic.in/uhe/Concept-BGP.pdf
Following are some excerpts from the first document:
Continue Reading September 22nd, 2009
Following is an excerpt from a report in Business Standard.
… the government has decided to allow private funding in setting up some of the proposed 14 national universities, which would be of world class standards.
During his interaction with British Trade and Investment Minister Mervyn Davies, HRD Minister Kapil Sibal today said the government was in favour of setting up some of the 14 universities in Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) mode.
As per the government’s plan these universities would be "global centres of innovation". The HRD Ministry has already prepared a concept note on institutions proposed to be set up in the 11th Plan.
"Sibal told Davies that the government would seek PPP model for creation of some of these institutions. A few other may be set up under complete government funding," a ministry official said.
September 17th, 2009
Following are some excerpts from a report in Indian Express.
The HRD Ministry has unveiled a blueprint for world-class universities (WCUs) that proposes a free hand and more autonomy to varsities, exempting them from audit systems and placing them outside the UGC-style regulatory system, offering a range of scholarships and a flexible faculty recruitment process. The ministry has also announced its ‘Brain Gain’ policy to attract quality faculty from across the globe proposing to amend existing legislations to permit foreign citizens to be engaged as faculty in India.
The concept note for the universities, circulated to select academicians, proposes a strong focus on research at these varsities and government aid in the form of a corpus.
…The varsity will have just two pay bands for faculty and the varsity will be free to recruit as many faculty members as its suits them within these two pay bands.
… The ministry also announced its ‘Brain Gain’ policy on Monday which aimed at attracting best quality teachers from across the globe to work at the 14 National Universities, proposed to be set up by the Centre in the 11th Plan. To ensure that quality faculty of foreign nationality join these universities, the government may amend the Citizenship Act, 1955 which does not allow persons of Indian origin, who are citizens of another country, to be appointed to public services and posts.
The government also intends to amend the Comptroller and Auditor General’s (Duties, Powers and Conditions of Services) Act of 1971 to exempt national universities from the CAG’s scrutiny.
Following is some excerpts from a zeenews report.
These universities will be kept out of the purview of existing regulatory bodies in higher education in academic matters.
"The government shall ensure that the governance structure of the university shall be tuned to towards ensuring autonomy over all matter, specially academic matters, including but not limited to admissions, curriculum, research, assessment, award of degrees, selection of members of the professoiorate and the basic direction of the academic work in the university," the concept note said.
The autonomy will be at various levels — at the level of university via-a-vis government, at the level of faculty vis-a-vis the university and at the level of researcher via-a-vis the faculty.
These proposed universities will get Research Endowment Fund of an amount less than Rs 200 crore each annually.
Following the preparation of the concept note, the Ministry will make a draft bill on setting up the universities which will go to the cabinet for approval and then placed before Parliament.
The universities will have the freedom to get funding from non-governmental sources subject to condition that it will not be from dubious or unverified sources.
An research peer group, comprising eminent academicians, will evaluate the research proposals. The varsities will have the freedom to decide remuneration for research personnel.
As a major exemption, the transactions of these universities will be kept out of the purview of Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).
… Accountability will be ensured by the review of the academic research peer group for research work and teachers peer group for course work and teaching.
"To that end, scrutiny and accountability shall be defined by outcomes rather than processes," the note said.
The universities will be free to establish Chairs of Studies with funding through non-government endowments.
Similarly, the universities will have freedom to make appointments by invitation based on the recommendations of a standing search committee.
"Recognising that brilliance is not a factor of age of a person or years spent in research, the appointment by invitation shall not be subject to limitations of age or years of experience of the considered candidate," the concept note said.
August 19th, 2009
Following is an excerpt from a report in Expressbuzz.com.
Innovation universities, the government’s proposal to build its own Harvard and Oxford, could also bring in transition from the existing reservation system, to one that is based on socio-economic factors. In a concept note commissioned by the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD) for the upcoming 14 innovation universities, a proposal to make away with outright reservations has been mooted. Instead, the note suggests making admissions based on the socioeconomic background of the candidate.
This would mean that seats will not be reserved for candidates, rather the candidate’s admission test scores would be increased based on deprivations that he or she experiences. The concept note says that the weight would depend on factors such as the educational attainment and earning capacity of the parents and nature of the school from which the student has passed Class 10 and Class 12 (urban or rural).
…The Innovation universities, previously referred to as World-class universities or National universities, was proposed in the 11th five year plan, and would focus on multi-disciplinary research and innovation.
… Interestingly, the note recommends allowing foreign candidates to apply to the Innovation Universities along with Indians.
The note recommends holding the admission tests not only in all the state capitals and metropolitan cities, but also in selected cities across the world.
… For admissions to undergraduate courses, the note proposes to use a two-stage testing process: a standardized aptitute test followed by an essay type test. For PG courses, graduate scores and aptitude test scores would be used for determining admissions, while admission to doctorate programmes would be done based on results obtained at the PG level supplemented by references from eminent academicians.
August 9th, 2009
Following is from a recent PIB report about a Rajya Sabha reply.
The Government is considering a proposal to set up 14 Universities aiming at world class standards at the following locations:-
|
Sl. No.
|
Location
|
|
1.
|
Amritsar (Punjab)
|
|
2.
|
Greater Noida (Uttar Pradesh)
|
|
3.
|
Jaipur (Rajasthan)
|
|
4.
|
Gandhinagar (Gujarat)
|
|
5.
|
Patna (Bihar)
|
|
6.
|
Guwahati (Assam)
|
|
7.
|
Kolkata (West Bengal)
|
|
8.
|
Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh)
|
|
9.
|
Kochi (Kerala)
|
|
10.
|
Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu)
|
|
11.
|
Mysore (Karnataka)
|
|
12.
|
Pune (Maharashtra)
|
|
13.
|
Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh)
|
|
14.
|
Bhubhaneshwar (Orissa)
|
Universities aiming at world class standards would act as exemplars for other universities including Central Universities, in benchmarking standards of teaching and research to those prevailing in the best universities in the world.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Human Resource Development Smt. D. Purandeswari, in a written reply to a question, in the Rajya Sabha today.
There are some reports about a "brain gain" policy that is being considered for the National Universities. Following is an excerpt from a report in webindia123.
The brain drain from the country will be checked by a ‘Brain Gain’ policy, the Government told the Rajya Sabha today.
The steps mooted under the policy would attract talent from all over the world into the country’s 14 national universities aiming for world class standards as well as for Indian Institutes of Technology, Indian Institutes of Management and National Institutes of Technology, Minister of State for Human Resource Development D Purundeswari told the House in a written reply.
Following are excerpts from a report in Times of India by Akshaya Mukul.
In a move that could result in the exodus of Indian scholars and teachers from foreign universities back to the country, HRD ministry’s new Brain Gain policy promises unheard of academic freedom, negotiable salaries, massive research funds, right environment, freedom from regulation and bureaucratic control and a good quality of life.
… The ministry’s Brain Gain policy — aimed at attracting Indian talent for 14 proposed national universities to be developed as ‘global centres of innovation’ — is likely to be made public in the coming days.
Recognizing that funding is essential to support research environment, Brain Gain policy promises a Research Endowment Fund of at least Rs 200 crore per national university per year. The university will also have the freedom to source funding from non-government sources subject to their not being dubious organizations.
Grants will be provided to individual researchers on the basis of their proposal, which will be evaluated by ‘academic research peer group’ consisting of eminent academics. Researchers will be free to procure aids and equipment, appoint research associates and assistants and decide on their salary. The amount spent by the university or its academics on research or teaching will not be audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. In this regard, the ministry has proposed amendment to CAG Act, 1971.
Accountability will be ensured by reviews by the academic research peer group for research work and teaching peer group for course work and teaching. National universities will have the freedom to establish chairs of studies with funding through non-government endowments to be occupied by eminent professors. Chair professors will receive pay, if any, both from the endowment as well as university.
On the academic front, national universities will be kept out of the purview of regulatory oversight as well as regulations on maintenance of standards or minimum qualification requirements for appointment to academic posts. As for academic freedom, researchers will be free to publish results. They will also have freedom to patent the results of research jointly with university without getting government approval, except in cases of research in strategic areas.
July 28th, 2009
Some news reports mention about opposition to certain conditions in the Vedanta University act. In this regard a recent article by Ila Patnaik in Indian Express is illuminating. Following are some excerpts.
The existing framework for running universities in India has been tried for many decades, and has been shown to have failed. In striking contrast, China has been able to get far ahead of India in building universities. If progress has to be made in India, every assumption of the HRD ministry now needs to be questioned. In addition to removing entry barriers against new private or foreign universities, the four new ideas that need to be brought in are: autonomy of universities (including on budget); reduced core funding combined with more competitive research grants; a flexible salary structure; end of government interference in recruitment of staff and students.
The best universities in India, those that we are particularly proud of, are not well rated by international standards. The Times of London’s Higher Education Supplement ranks universities around the world. In 2008, their data showed IIT Delhi at rank 154 and IIT Bombay at rank 174 globally. No other university in India made this top 200 list. By way of comparison, China has universities at ranks 50, 56, 113, 141, 143 and 144. In other words, China has six universities which are superior to IIT Delhi and IIT Bombay.
Last week, the NBER Digest carried an article by Linda Gorman summarising a research paper by Philippe Aghion, Mathias Dewatripont, Caroline M. Hoxby, Andreu Mas-Colell and Andre Sapir which investigates the sources of success in building universities. The paper is immensely useful in thinking about how to build universities in India; it should be on the top of Kapil Sibal’s reading list.
The paper finds that the first element that pulls down the rank of a university is the process of budgetary approval from the government. The average European university that sets its own budget has a rank of 200 while the average European university that needs approval from the government has a rank of 316. In other words, giving a university autonomy to set its own budget on average yields an improvement of 116 ranks. The message for India: in order to obtain high-quality universities, we need to give universities autonomy.
The second important feature is the role of government in funding universities. They find that each percentage point of the university’s budget that comes from core government funds reduces the rank of the university by 3.2 points. The message for India: in order to obtain high-quality universities, we need to give them less money through core funding from the government.
The third issue is inequality in wages. European universities which pay the same wages to all faculty of the same seniority and rank have an average rank of 322. Universities which vary wages for each faculty member and pay different salaries to two people of the same seniority and rank, have an average rank of 213. In other words, flexible HR policies yield an improvement of 109 ranks. The message for India: freeing up HR policies is essential to building high-quality universities.
The fourth issue is the recruitment process for students. Universities which are free to recruit undergraduate students as they like have a rank 156 points higher than those where the government determines the composition of students. The message for India: universities should have full freedom to recruit students as they like, without interference from the government.
The fifth issue is competition. Each percentage point of a university’s budget that comes from a competitive research grants process yields an improvement in its ranking by 6.5. …
Variation across state governments in the United States shows that the best universities come up in states which allow more autonomy, such as independent purchasing systems, no state approval of the university budget, and complete control of personnel hiring and pay.
There is only one university in India which has autonomy on budget setting, recruits its own students, has flexible HR policies, etc., and this is the Indian School of Business. It is perhaps logical that, in 2008, ISB was ranked the 20th best MBA programme by The Financial Times, and in 2009 this rank was improved to 15. None of the IIMs feature anywhere. This is a striking contrast between enormous state expenditures on the IIMs failing to yield measurable results when compared with an alternative which has landed India in the top rankings of the world.
July 21st, 2009
Following is from the PIB report http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=47448.
| Foundation Stone of Indian Institute of Technology, Bhubaneswar, laid
TO ACT AS A CATALYST FOR THE RAPID INDUSTRIALIZATION OF THE STATE
|
| |
15:15 IST |
Foundation Stone of the Indian Institute of Technology ( IIT ), Bhubaneswar, was laid in Orissa today. Shri Arjun Singh, Union Minister of Human Resource Development, was to lay the Foundation Stone, but due to unavoidable reasons he couldn’t go to Orissa and the ceremony was held in his absentia at KANSAPADA ( Khudupur-Taraboi Road ) near Jatni Block Office, Khordha.
This new IIT at Bhubaneswar is part of the 8 new IITs that have been established in the country by the Union Ministry of Human Resource Ministry. Orissa is also to get a new Central University under The Central Universities Ordinance, 2009 which was promulgated by the President of India on 15.01.2009.
Following is the full text of the speech of Shri Arjun Singh, delivered on his behalf :
“ IITs are our national pride and owe their existence to the scientific temper and disposition of our First Prime Minister Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru. Making India, the knowledge hub of the world was a cherished dream of our first Prime Minister Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru. Way back in 1951, the Government of India, under the leadership of Panditji, planned to have four such institutes of excellence in the field of Engineering and Technology. The first amongst four such institutes (one for each zone) came up at Kharagpur in eastern region.
During the Eleventh Plan Period, the Government of India has decided to have eight new IITs, including IIT Bhubaneswar. IIT Bhubaneswar was one of the new IITs to become operational with 120 students in July, 2008. It is also heartening to note that the mother of the IIT system, IIT Kharagpur, is mentoring this new IIT. I would like to compliment Prof. Damodar Acharyaji, Director, IIT, Kharagpur who has made all possible efforts to mentor this IIT. The necessary facilities are being created in IIT Kharagpur Extension Campus at Bhubaneswar so that the students of IIT Bhubaneswar could have their education from Bhubaneswar itself from the forthcoming academic session starting from July 2009. IIT Bhubaneswar will offer science based engineering graduate, postgraduate and doctoral programmes of international standard in various disciplines.
The State of Orissa is a resource-rich state and we expect that IIT, Bhubaneswar will act as a catalyst for the rapid industrialization of the State. Indian Institutes of Technology are known the world over for imparting quality and relevant education to students. I am confident that this new IIT also carry forward the great tradition of IITs.
I am happy to note that the Government of Orissa has allotted 935 acres of land for this IIT. The State Government has also agreed to provide adequate facilities of water, electricity and road connectivity. I appreciate the support of the Government of Orissa to have this IIT in Bhubaneswar and would like to specially thank Shri Naveen Patnaikji for his support for the venture.
I take this opportunity to mention that we had made an assessment of various States about availability of degree and diploma level courses per lakh population in the field of technical education. We find that the availability of degree and diploma level courses per lakh population in Orissa is much below the national average. This obviously means that the regional imbalance in respect of technical education needs to be corrected. It is in this context that the setting up of an IIT in Bhubaneswar is a right and timely step. I am sure the Government of Orissa will derive maximum benefits from the Central Government schemes for educational advancement of this State.
The Government of India in its Eleventh Plan has given a major thrust to education. The Central Government has taken several initiatives in respect of new institution building. These include setting up of 30 new Central Universities, Indira Gandhi National Tribal University, eight new IITs, seven new Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), five new Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs), two new Schools of Planning & Architecture (SPAs), 10 new National Institutes of Technology (NITs) and 20 new IIITs. For this unprecedented expansion, the credit goes to the Hon’ble Prime Minister, who has been kind enough to accord very high priority to the education sector and provided a nine fold increase in the budgetary outlays for the higher education during the XIth Plan as compared to Xth Plan.
Capacity building in the diverse fields of basic science, engineering and technology, architecture, management will empower besides providing opportunities to the youth. It has been decided to launch a massive National Initiative for Skill Development under which it is proposed to give assistance for the establishment of 1000 new polytechnics. It is also proposed to upgrade infrastructure facilities of existing diploma level Government and Government aided polytechnics. In order to attract women in polytechnic education, we are proposing to provide financial assistance for the construction of women’s hostels in 500 polytechnics.
The Government is also going to incentivise the States for starting new Universities, besides giving a one time grant to the States on a matching basis to develop the infrastructure of State technical institutions. With these initiatives, we hope to increase access (by 5% GER during XI Plan) with equity and excellence.
8. I am happy to say that the State of Orissa is also getting its due share. We have decided in this Plan Period to have in Orissa State, one Central University, one National University aiming for world class standards, one IIIT, and several Polytechnics in those districts which currently do not have a Polytechnic. The Government and Private Engineering Colleges will also be getting opportunity to upgrade their facilities through TEQIP. This will provide our youth in the State with vocational and professional educational opportunities to realize their full potential.”
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KKP/ska
February 12th, 2009
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