Utkal University at the National Level: an article in Dharitri by Prof. Santosh Tripathy

Following are some of the highlights mentioned in the above article.

  • Utkal University’s rank increased from 44 to 21 in the latest India Today ranking.
  • The Economics, Philosophy and Anthropology departments have received the Center for Advanced Studies designation for its research.
  • The Psychology department has had the Center for Advanced Studies designation for the last 25 years. This is a first with respect to any state university in India.
  • English and Odia programs are specially funded by UGC.
  • With the help of UGC, the programs of Tourism management, Journalism and Yoga under the departments of Ancient history of Utkal, General administration and Sanskrit, respectively, have created their independent identity.
  • All the Science departments of the university get independent funding from Department of Science & Technology of the Central government.
  • The Physics, Chemistry, Botany, Zoology and Geology departments have UGC funding and are part of the FIST program.
  • It has been announced that the Biotechnology department will get full support from the Department of Biotechnology of the central government for the next two years.

November 27th, 2011

Private State Universities of India as listed in the UGC site as of 18th Jan 2011

Following is from http://www.ugc.ac.in/inside/privateuniversity.html.

Public Notice on Private Universities


18thJanuary, 2011

It has come to the notice of the University Grants Commission that some of the State Private Universities have affiliated colleges and started off-campus centre(s) in violation of the UGC (Establishment of and Maintenance of Standards in Private Universities) Regulation, 2003 and against the judgment of Honble Supreme Court in case of Prof. Yash Pal & Others vs. State of Chhattisgarh & Others. Some of these Universities are running these Centres on franchising basis also which is not allowed.

The public at large and the student community in particular are therefore informed that as per the information available with the UGC as on date, there are following 73 Private Universities established by the Acts of the Legislatures of different States:- 

Assam 
Bihar 
Chhattisgarh 
Gujarat 
Haryana 
Himachal Pradesh 
Jharkhand 
Karnataka 
Madya Pradesh
  Meghalya
Mizoram 
Nagaland 
Orissa 
Punjab 
Rajasthan 
Sikkim 
Tripura 
Uttar Pradesh 
Uttrakhand
S.No. Name of Private University Date of Gazette Notification Date of Inspection Status of the University with regard to inspection by UGC
  ASSAM      
1 Assam Doon Bosco University
Azara, Guwahati
12.02.2009 —– Information called for inspection purpose
  BIHAR      
2 Aryabhatta Knowledge University
8, Off Polo Road 
Patna-800001
11.08.2008 —– Information called for inspection purpose
  CHHATTISGARH      
3 Dr. C.V. Raman University
Kargi Road, Kota 
Bilaspur
03.11.2006 9-10 November, 2009 Inspection report can be seen at annexure
4 MATS University
Arang Kharora
Raipur
03.11.2006 19-20 June, 2009 Inspection report can be seen at annexure
5 Maharishi University of Management and Technology, 
post: Mangla,
Bilaspur- 495001
18.04.2002 —- Information called for inspection purpose
  Gujarat      
6 Ahmedabad University
Navrangpura,
Ahmedabad-380009
Gujarat
07.07.2009 —– Information called for inspection purpose
7 Charotar University of Science & Technology
Changa-388421
Distt. Anand
04.11.2009 —– Information called for inspection purpose
8 Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information & Communication Technology
Gandhinagar-382 007
06.03.2003 21 August, 2004 Inspection report can be seen at annexure
9 Nirma University of Science & Technology
Sarkhej, Gandhinagar
12.03.2003 15 May 2004 Inspection report can be seen at annexure
10 Ganpat University
Ganpat Vidyanagar
Gandhinagar
23.03.2005 17-18 October, 2005 Inspection report can be seen at annexure
11. Kadi Sarva Vishwavidyalaya
Sarva Vidyalaya Campus
Gandhinagar
16.05.2007 13-14 October, 2008 Inspection report can be seen at annexure
12. Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University
Gandhinagar-382 009
04.04.2007 3-4 October, 2009 Inspection report can be seen at annexure
13 Calrox Teacher’s University
Ahmedabad, Gujarat
07.07.2009 —- Information called for inspection purpose
  HARYANA      
14 O.P. Jindal Global University
Sonepat
January, 2009 —– Inspection report can be seen at annexure
15 ITM University
Gurgaon, Haryana
21.10.2009 5-6 February, 2010 Inspection report can be seen at annexure
16 AMITY University Haryana
Amity Education Valley
Panchgaon,Manesar
Distt. Gurgaon, Haryana-122413
26.4.2010 —– Information called for inspection purpose
  HIMACHAL PRADESH      
17 Chitkara University
HIMUDA Education Hub
Solan-174 103
21.01.2009 —– Information called for inspection purpose
18 Jaypee University of Information Technology
Distt. Solan-174 103
23.05.2002 02.06.2004 Inspection report can be seen at annexure
19 Eternal University
Baru Sahib Distt.
Sirmour
22.10.2009 —– Information called for inspection purpose
20 Shoolini University
Solan
Himachal Pradesh
15.10.2009 —– Information called for inspection purpose
21 Indus International University
V.P.O. Bathu, Tehsil Haroli, Distt. Una,
Himachal Pradesh-174301
01.02.2010 —– Information called for inspection purpose
22 Arni University
Kathgarh, Tehsil Indore
Distt Kangra (H.P.)
04.11..2009 —– Information called for inspection purpose
23 Manav Bharti University
Solan
Himachal Pradesh
22.09.2009 —– Information called for inspection purpose
24 Baddi University of Energing Science & Technology
Makhnimajra, BADDI
Distt. Solan, Himachal Pradesh
22.09.2009 —– Information called for inspection purpose
25 Maharishi Markandeshwar University
Kumarhatti, Sultanpur Road
Solan-173 229
Himachal Pradesh
19-09-2010 —– Information called for inspection purpose
  JHARKHAND      
26 The Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India University
Ranchi
17.06.2008 —– Information called for inspection purpose
  KARNATAKA      
27 Alliance University
Chikkahagada Cross, 
Chandapura- Anekal Main Road,
Anekal, Bangalore-562106
Karnataka
16.09.2010 —– Information called for inspection purpose
  MADYA PRADESH      
28 Jaypee University of Engineering & Technology
AB Road, Raghogarh, Distt, Guna-473226
Madya Pradesh
University has been established by way of an ordinance (No. 3 of 2010) which needs to be regularised by State Legislature Assembly of M.P. Govt. 

Yet to be notified by M.P. Govt.

—– —–
  MEGHALYA      
29 CMJ University 
Modrina Mansion
Laitumkhrah Shillong
Meghalaya-793003
20.07.2009 —– Information called for inspection purpose
30 Martin Luther Christian University
KIPA Conference Centre
Shillong-793 004
13.07.2005 15-16 April, 2008 Inspection report can be seen at annexure
31 Techno Global University
Anita Mension, Bishnupur
Shillong-793 004
02.12.2008 —– Information called for inspection purpose
32 The Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India University
Meghalya-794 001
04.11.2009 —– Information called for inspection purpose
33 University of Science & Technology
Meghalaya
02.12.2008 —– Information called for inspection purpose
  MIZORAM      
34 The Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India University
Aizawal, Mizoram-798012
21.03.2006 12-13 August, 2009 Inspection report can be seen at annexure
  NAGALAND      
35 The Global Open University
Wokha-797 111
18.09.2006 29-30 July, 2010 Inspection report can be seen at annexure
36 The Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India University
Dimapur, Nagaland
04.11.2009 —– Information called for inspection purpose
  ORISSA      
37 Centurion University of Technology and Management
Village Alluri Nagar
Via-Uppalada
Paralakhemundi – 761 211
Gajapati, Orissa
27-08-2010 —– Information called for inspection purpose
  PUNJAB      
38 Chitkara University
Chandigarh-Patiala National Highway(NH-64)
Village Jhansala
Tehsil Rajpura, Distt. Patiala
Panjab-140 401
07-12-2010 —– Information called for inspection purpose
39 Lovely Professional University
Jalandhar, Ludhiana
Distt. Kappurthala
12.12.2006 17-18 October, 2006 Inspection report can be seen at annexure
  RAJASTHAN      
40 Amity University
Kant Kalwar, Jaipur-303 002
29.03.2008 —– Information called for inspection purpose
41 Bhagwant University
Sikar Road, Ajmer-305 001
14.04.2008 —– Information called for inspection purpose
42 Jagannath University
Vill. Rampura
Teshil-Chaksu, Jaipur
16.04.2008 13-14 July, 2009 Inspection report can be seen at annexure
43 Jaipur National University
Jagatpura, Jaipur
21.10.2007 10-12 April, 2008 Inspection report can be seen at annexure
44 Jodhpur National University
Narnadi, Jhanwar Road
Jodhpur
11.08.2008 15-16 March, 2010 Inspection report can be seen at annexure
45 Jyoti Vidyapeeth Women’s University
Vedant Gyan Valley Village
Jharna Matpala Jabner, Jaipur
21.04.2008 —– Information called for inspection purpose
46 Mahatma Jyoti Rao Phoole University
RIICO Industrial Arrea, Tala Mod
NH-I, Achrol, Jaipur
03.02.2009 —– Information called for inspection purpose
47 Mewar University
Chittorgarh
22.09.2008 15-17 April,2010 Inspection report can be seen at annexure
48 NIMS University
Shobha Nagar, Jaipur-303 001
29.03.2008 —– Information called for inspection purpose
49 Pacific Academy of Higher Education & Research University (PAHER)
Pacific Hills,Airport Road 
Partap Nagar Extension
Udaipur-313003
29.04.2010 —– Information called for inspection purpose
50 Shri Jagdish Prasad Jhabarmal Tibrewala University
Chudela, Distt. Jhunjhunu.
03.02.2009 —– Information called for inspection purpose
51 Sri Padmapat Singhania University
Bhatewar, Udiapur-313 601
29.03.2008 —– Information called for inspection purpose
52 Singhania University
Pacheribari, Jhunjhunu
29.03.2008 —– Information called for inspection purpose
53 Suresh Gyan Vihar University
Mahal Jagatpura, Jaipur
21.04.2008 21-22 December, 2009 Inspection report can be seen at annexure
54 Shridhar University
Pilani Chirawa Road, Pilani Rajasthan-333031
03.04.2010 —— Information called for inspection purpose
  SIKKIM      
55 Eastern Institute for Integrated Learning in Management University
Jorethang
24.03.2006 16-17 March, 2008 Inspection report can be seen at annexure
56 The Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India University
Sikkim
09.10.2004 —– Information called for inspection purpose
57 Sikkim Manipal University of Health Medical & Technological Science
Gangtok
11.10.1995 28-30 January, 2010 Inspection report can be seen at annexure
58 Vinayaka Missions Sikkim University
Middle Tadong, PO Daragaorn
Tadong-237 102
30.07.2008 —– Information called for inspection purpose
  TRIPURA      
59 The Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India University
Agartala-799001
31.03.2004 14-15 July, 2004 Inspection report can be seen at annexure
  UTTAR PRADESH      
60 Amity University Uttar Pradesh
Gautam Budh Nagar
24.03.2005 16-17 July, 2009 Inspection report can be seen at annexure
61 G.L.A. University
17 Km. Stone
Mathura-Delhi Highway
PO- Chaumuhan
Mathura-281406
01.04.2010 —– Information called for inspection purpose
62 Jagadguru Rambhadracharya Handicapped University
Chitrakoot Dham-210 204
06.10.2001 —– Information called for inspection purpose
63 Integral University
Kursi Road, Lucknow-226 026
26.02.2004 2 September, 2004 Inspection report can be seen at annexure
64 Mangalayatan University
Aligarh
30.10.2006 —– Information called for inspection purpose
65 Mohammad Ali Jauhar University
Rampur
19.06.2006 —– Information called for inspection purpose
66 Teerthanker Mahaveer University
Moradabad
05.09.2008 —– Information called for inspection purpose
67 Sharda University
Gautam Budh Nagar
Greater Noida (UP)
24.03.2009 30 March-1 April, 2010 Inspection report can be seen at annexure
68 Swami Vivekanand Subharti University
Delhi-Haridwar Bye Pass Road
Meerut
05.09.2008 —– Information called for inspection purpose
  UTTRAKHAND      
69 Dev Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya
Gayatrikunj, Shantikunj
Haridwar-249 411
22.01.2002 3-5 July, 2010 Inspection report can be seen at annexure
70 Himgiri Nabh Vishwavidyalaya
(University in the Sky)
Dehradun
11.07.2003 14-15 November, 2009 Inspection report can be seen at annexure
71 Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India (ICFAI)
Indira Nagar
Dehradun-248 006
10.07.2003 18-19 April , 2005 Inspection report can be seen at annexure
72 University of Petroleum and Energy Studies
P.O. Bidhali (Via Prem Nagar)
Dehradun-248007 (Uttarakhand)
10.07.2003 21 May, 2004 Inspection report can be seen at annexure
73 University of Patanjali
Patanjali Yogpeeth
Haridwar
22.01.2002 —– Information called for inspection purpose

These 73 Universities are competent to award degrees as specified by UGC under Section 22 of the UGC Act with the approval of the statutory councils, wherever required through their main campus. Wherever the approval of the statutory council is not a pre-requisite to start a programme, the Universities are required to maintain the minimum standards regarding academic and physical infrastructure as laid down by the concerned statutory council.

It is also informed that Private Universities cannot affiliate an institution/college. They cannot establish off campus centre(s) beyond the territorial jurisdiction of the concerned State. However, they can establish off-campus centre(s) within the concerned State after their existence of five years and with the prior approval of the University Grants Commission. So far, UGC has not approved any off campus centre(s) of any Private University.

Course(s) under distance mode can be started by the private university only after the prior approval of the UGC-AICTE and DEC joint Committee for which Director, Distance Education Council, IGNOU, Maidan Garhi, New Delhi – 110068 is the coordinator.

Students/Public at large are advised to go through this website carefully at the time of taking admission and should clarify the status of the University from UGC before taking admission in any Private University other than those listed above

Further, para 3.7 & 3.8 of the UGC (Establishment of and Maintenance of Standards in Private Universities) Regulations, 2003 are reproduced below for information of all the Private Universities: –

3.7. A private University shall provide all the relevant information relating to the first degree and post-graduate degree/diploma programme(s) including the curriculum structure, contents, teaching and learning process, examination and evaluation system and the eligibility criteria for admission of students, to the UGC on a proforma prescribed by the UGC prior to starting of these programmes.

3.8. The UGC on detailed examination of the information made available as well as the representations and grievances received by it from the students as well as concerned public relating to the deficiencies of the proposed programme(s) not conforming to various UGC Regulations, shall inform the concerned University about any shortcomings in respect of conformity to relevant regulations, for rectification. The University shall offer the programme(s) only after necessary rectification.

A copy of the UGC (Establishment of and Maintenance of Standards in Private Universities)Regulations, 2003 alongwith the proforma for submission of information by the Private University are annexed with the notice

Secretary

January 24th, 2011

300 page 6.2 MB UGC Report of the HIGHER EDUCATION IN INDIA Issues Related to Expansion, Inclusiveness, Quality and Finance.

The link is http://www.ugc.ac.in/pub/report/12.pdf. This was published in November 2008 with 500 printed copies. Its been recently put in the UGC website at number 12 in the page http://www.ugc.ac.in/pub/.

This 300 page document has all kinds of data on higher education in India and is a must read for anyone interested in higher education vis-a-vis India.

An Expressbuzz report by Sanjeev Patro tries to distill out some data with respect to Odisha from the above document. It is a good start and it made me look for the original document (Thanks), but I think a more careful analysis is needed.

March 1st, 2010

Revision of faculty Salary in India – links to various reports

March 30th, 2009

Recommendation of the pay review committee of the UGC

Following is from http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=43395.

The Pay Review Committee after detailed deliberations has made the following recommendations about various aspects of revision of pay and allowances, service and working conditions of teachers, Librarians, Directors of Physical Education and other Academic Staff in colleges and universities recognized by the University Grants Commission.

I.          New Nomenclature for various teaching posts

Assistant Professor for   Lecturer

Assistant Professor (Senior Scale) for Lecturer (Senior Scale)

Assistant Professor (Selection Grade) for Lecturer (Selection Grade)

Associate Professor for Associate Professor

Senior Associate Professor     New Position

Professor for Professor

Senior Professor New Position

Professor of Eminence New Position

II.         New Scales of Pay and Allowances

EXISTING AND PROPOSED SCALES OF PAY FOR

UNIVERSITY AND COLLEGE TEACHERS

 

A. POSTS SPECIFIC TO UNIVERSITIES

 

CATEGORY

EXISTING PAY SCALE

NEW PAY BAND

GRADE PAY

1

Assistant Professor

 

8000-  275-13500

15600 – 39100

6600

2

Assistant Professor 

(Senior Scale)

10000 – 325 – 15200

15600 – 39100

7200

3

Assistant Professor

(Selection Grade)/

Associate Professor

12000 -420 – 18300

15600 – 39100

8000

4

Professor

 

16400-450-20900-500-22400

37400 – 67000

11000

5

Senior Professor

 

New Post Proposed

 37400 – 67000

12000

6

Pro-VC

 

18400—500-22400.

37400-67000

 Plus 4 Adv increments

12000

7

Professor of Eminence

New Post Proposed

80000 (fixed)

Nil

8

Vice – Chancellor

25000 (Fixed)

80000 (Fixed)

Nil

9

Librarian/Director of PE

16400-450-20900-500-22400

37400-67000

11000

10

Deputy Librarian/Deputy Director of PE

12000-420-18300

15600-39100

8000

 

11

Asstt. Librarian (Sr. Scale)/ Asstt Director of PE (Sr. Scale)

10000-15200

15600-39100

7200

12

Asstt Librarian/

Asstt Director PE/Sports Officer/Physical Instructor

8000-275-13500

15600-39100

6600

 

 

B. POSTS SPECIFIC TO COLLEGES

 

1

Assistant Professor

 

8000- 275-13500

15600 – 39100

6600

2

Assistant Professor

(Senior Scale)

10000 – 325 – 15200

15600 – 39100

7200

3

Assistant Professor

(Selection Grade)/

Associate Professor

12000 -420 – 18300

15600 – 39100

8000

4

Senior Associate Professor

New Post Proposed

37400 – 67000

 

8700

5

Professor in PG Colleges

New Post Proposed

37400 – 67000

11000

6

a. Principal of UG College

 

b. Principal of PG College

12000-18300

 

 

16400-450-20900-500-22400

37400-67000

Plus 2 Adv increments.

 

37400-67000

Plus 2 Adv increments

8700

 

 

11000

7

College Librarian /

Director of PE/

Sports Officer/ PI

8000-13500

15600-39100

6600

8

College Librarian/

Director PE (Senior Scale)

10000-15200

15600-39100

7200

9

College Librarian(S.G)/ Director of Physical Education (SG)

12000-18300

15600-39100

8000

10

*Senior College Librarian (Selection Grade)Senior College DPE (Selection Grade)

New Post Proposed

37400-67000

8700

* The eligibility condition for promotion for this position may better be decided by the UGC in consultation with the special committee heading by a Senior Professor of Library / senior professor of Physical education

 

Annual Increment

3% of the Basic Salary ( Basic Pay + Grade Pay) with compounding effect

4% of the Basic Salary(Basic Pay + Grade Pay)with compounding effect for 2 years for a select few 25% in the Pay Band Rs. 15600-39100 on the basis of better teaching and research performance.  Fresh appraisals are be made after two years.

Stagnation Removal

An incumbent after reaching the top of the scale in the pay band shall move to the next pay band without any change in the grade pay.

Increments for Higher Qualifications/ on Promotion.

 

Five advance increments instead of present four to a Ph.d degree holder at the time of recruitment as Assistant Professor.

 

Three advance increments instead of present two to an M.Phil degree holder at the time of recruitment as Assistant Professor.

 

Three advance increments to an incumbent holding M.Tech, M.D., M.S. L.L.M. degree at the time of recruitment as Assistant Professor.

 

Two advance increments to an incumbent who joins as Assistant Professor with basic M.A./MSc./M.Com etc. with NET/SET examination qualifications.

 

Two advance increments to an incumbent who joins as /Associate Professor in open selection.

 

Two advance increments to an incumbent on being promoted as /Associate Professor under CAS.

 

Three advance increments instead of present two to an in-service teacher on completing Ph.D. degree.

 

Two advance increments instead of present one to an in-service teacher on completing M.Phil degree.

 

A selection committee may recommend up to seven instead of present five advance increments to an incumbent with higher merit, better publications and more experience etc.

 

All advance increments to be given on non-compounding basis

 

Allowances

House Rent Allowance

 

30% of basic salary for Category X cities (A-1 earlier) population 50 lakhs and above)

 

20% of basic salary for Category Y cities (A, B-1, B-2 earlier) population between 5 and 50 lakhs)

 

10% of basic salary for Category Z cities (C and unclassified earlier) (population below 5 lakhs)

Transport Allowance

 

Rs. 3200/-plus DA thereon per month for A-1/A Class cities (13 notified cities)

 

Rs. 1600/- plus DA thereon per month for other Cities

 

Children’s Education Allowance (CEA)

 

Rs. 1000/- per child per month for upto a maximum of two children

 

Rs  3000/- per child per month for those residing in hostel, for upto two children.

 

However, both hostel subsidy and children education allowance cannot be availed of concurrently.

Academic Allowance

 

Rs. 1500/- per month for Assistant Professor, Assistant Professor(Senior Scale), Assistant Professor(Selection Grade)

 

Rs. 1200/- per month for Associate Professor, Senior Associate Professor, Professor and   Professor.

 

Special Compensatory (Hill Area) Allowance and Special Compensatory (Remote Locality) Allowance will be allowed as admissible to central government employees. 

 

Special (Duty) Allowance for Teachers Serving in North Eastern Region including Sikkim and Ladakh

 

The Committee recommends a Special (Duty) Allowance at the rate of 12.5% on pay plus grade pay to teachers serving in these areas as applicable to Central Government employees.  

 

Leave Travel concession

 

LTC travel to Home Town three times in a four year block, not exceeding once in a year.

 

LTC may be allowed for any place in India once in a block of four years. Thus four LTC in a block of 4 years but not exceeding one in any one year.

 

No encashing of LTC if not availed of during a block year.

 

LTC for family members may be allowed to be combined with seminars/workshops and other academic assignments being attended.

 

Modifications made by the VI Central Pay Commission as notified by the Government may be adopted for teachers as well.

Traveling Allowance

 

TA rules admissible to central Government employees wherein all those with grade pay of Rs. 5400 and above have been allowed air travel may also be extended to teachers as well. Teachers may also be allowed TA/DA as admissible from time to time to Central / State Government employees, as the case may be.

 

Medical Insurance

 

Medical Insurance for all teachers with a teacher contributing 30% of the premium and the rest to be contributed by the employer. UGC to negotiate with leading medical insurance companies to get a better all India deal.

 

Group Insurance

 

The VI Central Pay Commission recommendations of raising an employee’s contribution from Rs. 120/- to Rs. 720/- for a group insurance may be adopted for all university and college teachers throughout the country. UGC should once again negotiate with leading insurance companies to get a better deal for all institutions.

 

Consultancy

Teachers in universities and colleges should be encouraged to accept Consultancy, Directing Projects, registering patents, R&D products and technology transfers. Resources earned to be in the following manner:

Amount received upto 30% of the gross salary

(basic salary+grade pay+academic allowance) No sharing

 

Amount received beyond 30% and upto the Sharing of 

gross salary amount beyond 30% in the ratio 70% and

 30% between the teacher and the Institution

 

Amount receive beyond the gross salary 50-50 of the

amount received beyond the gross salary between the teacher and

the institution

 

This arrangement should work for five years thereafter it should be reviewed in view of future developments.

 

Superannuation, Reemployment, Pension, Provident Fund and Gratuity

 

The age of superannuation of all college and university teachers throughout India to be 65 years.

 

In the interest of students Individual teachers should however be allowed to continue as contract teachers till the end of academic session.

 

Reemployment of Teachers

 

Teachers may be reemployed selectively after superannuation on contract basis upto the age of 70 years.

 

Pension

 

Teachers should be eligible for full pension after 20 years of qualifying years .

 

UGC should take up the matter of restoring triple benefit scheme for teachers employed after 2004 with the Central Government.

 

The revised rates of family pension to the family of the deceased employee- minimum of Rs. 3500/- per month and a maximum of 30% of the highest pay in the Government of India should be extended to teachers as well.

 

Additional quantum of pension to senior pensioners and family pensioners should be allowed as notified by the Government of India.

Provident Fund

 

Teachers governed by Contributory Provident Fund should be given another chance to opt for General Provident Fund.

Gratuity

 

The upper limit of gratuity to be paid to teachers should be revised to Rs. Ten lakhs from present three and half lakhs as has been done for central Government employees by the government of India.

 

Ex-Gratia Lump sum compensation in case of Death on Duty

 

Sr. No.

Circumstances Justifying Compensation

Amount of Compensation

1

Death occurring due to accidents in the course of performance of duties.

Rs. 10 Lakhs

2

Death occurring due to accidents in the course of performance of duties attributable to acts of violence by terrorists/ anti social elements etc.

Rs. 10 Lakhs

 

 

Financial Support for implementation of the Pay Review Committee recommendations.

 

Central government to provide 100% assistance for additional expenditure for five years for implementing the recommendations of the Pay Review Committee.

 

Addition assistance to the extent of 50% for next five years for only those states that implement the recommendations successfully in toto. UGC to review the implementation in the fifth year for the additional assistance.

Implementation from a single date

 

All recommendations to be implemented in toto as a package with effect from 1.1.2006.

 

However, various allowances except DA to be admissible with effect from 1.9.2008.

Service and Working Conditions of Teachers       

 

All institutions should fill vacant positions on urgent basis.

 

All bans on recruitment of teachers imposed by states should be lifted immediately and UGC should monitor this situation.

 

UGC to make special efforts from attracting persons from socially challenged sections to teaching.

Contract Teachers

 

Teachers should be appointed on contract only if absolutely necessary and their qualifications and procedure of selection should be the same as for a regularly appointed teachers.

 

The fixed emoluments to be paid per month to a teacher on contracts should not be less than the monthly gross salary of a regularly appointed teacher.

 

Guest Teachers / Part Time Teachers

 

If there is a need for appointing a teacher as a guest teachers/part time teachers, he should be paid @ Rs. 1000/- per teachers and the total payment during a month should not exceed Rs. 25000.

 

Retired teachers could also be involved in teaching as guest teachers.

 

Eligibility Conditions for Appointment in Universities and Colleges

 

Besides the other qualifications laid down by the UGC for the post of Assistant Professor, qualifying in the NET/SET examination shall be essential for being eligible to apply for the post of Assistant Professor.

 

However, those who possess a Ph.D degree in the subject shall be exempted from the NET/SET qualifications, provided the Universities, however, carry out reforms to raise the standard of Ph.D. degrees.

 

Those possessing M. Phil degrees shall be no more exempt from qualifying the NET/SET examination.

Selection Process/ Selection Committees 


The UGC should draw up exhaustive lists of experts in each subject and put them up on their website. It should be incumbent on institutions holding selections to include at least one of the subject experts on the selection committee from this list.

 

The UGC should monitor this for compliance.

New Positions

 

Positions of Professor should be sanctioned for direct recruitment in colleges for disciplines which have post graduate teaching.

 

There should be at least one post of Professor in each of these disciplines where there is post graduate teaching.

 

The basic qualifications and the procedure for selection of Post of Professor in colleges shall be the same as for the post of Professor in a university department, chaired by the Vice-Chancellor or his nominee.

 

Position of Adjunct Professor and Concurrent Professor should be created in universities in order to encourage mobility between institutions and industry/corporate world and also between one institution and another.

 

Up to 15% of the total strength of the teaching faculty in a university may be Floating Positions for making appointments in a department where no vacancy exits.         

Promotion of Teachers through Career Advancement Scheme (CAS)

 

A new position of   Associate Professor should be created as a third avenue for promotion for college teachers under CAS.

 

A new position of Senior Professor should be created in the universities for promotion of Professors.

 

The title of Professor of Eminence may be conferred on not more than 10% of the total strength of professors in a university.

Process of Promotion of teachers under CAS

 

The process of promotion of a teacher under CAS should be started at least three months before s/he becomes eligible for promotion.

 

For College teachers, greater emphasis should be laid on class room teaching, holding tutorials, conducting examinations and evaluating answer scripts and less on research work while considering their cases for promotion under CAS.

Various Kinds of Leave admissible to teachers

 

The duration of leave admissible to teachers under FIP for pursuing a Ph.D programme may be increased from present three years( two +one) to four years (three+ one)

 

Also restricting such leave up to the age of 45 years should be removed. A teacher may be able to get this leave any time in her/his career till five years before the superannuation.

 

A teacher in a university or a college should be entitled to study leave for a span of two years to pursue an approved research project.

 

A teacher would be entitled to study leave only once in her/his career.

 

Both university and college teachers should be entitled to Sabbatical leave which should be available to any teacher for a year after six years of teaching or for a semester after three years of teaching.

 

A teacher should be entitled for sabbatical for only two years or four semesters during her/his entire career.

 

There should be no bar on a teacher getting both sabbatical and study leave against approved research projects.

 

Maternity leave may be granted to a female teacher for 180 days and twice in one’s career.

 

Paternity leave of 15 days may be granted to teacher father.

 

Child care leave for 2 years (730 days) may be granted to a female teacher.

 

Admissibility of other kinds of leave remains unchanged.

 

Teaching Workload

 

A teacher must spend five hours everyday for five days in a week in the institution for teaching, holding tutorials, guiding research or carrying out co-curricular activities.

 

The practice of dual workload—one for directly appointed teachers and another for promoted teachers—in a particular category is abolished. All teachers in a category should carry out the same workload prescribed for their category.

 

UGC must make large scale inputs to improve the infrastructure and support services for teaching and research in institutions, particularly in post graduate colleges.

Evaluation of Teachers’ performance and academic accountability

 

Multi-source evaluation—self assessment, assessment by students who have been taught a course by the teacher and assessment by the academic head/s.

 

Multiple parameters like regularity in class room teaching, holding tutorials, availability to students for consultation, participating in faculty meetings, guiding and carrying out research, and participating in other academic activities like seminars, etc should be taken into consideration while assessing a teacher’s academic accountability.

 

The assessment should be made once a year and should be made available to the teacher concerned.

 

The assessment should be placed before the selection  committee at the time of the teacher’s promotion.

 

UGC should evolve parameters relevant to universities and colleges respectively for carrying out such evaluations uniformally throughout the country.

 

Librarians and Directors of Physical Education

 

Deputy Librarians and Deputy Directors of Physical Education should be considered for promotion to Librarian and Director of Physical Education respectively under CAS.

 

The senior most Librarian and Senior most Director of Physical Education should be redesignated as Chief Librarian and Chief Director of Physical Education respectively.

 

In colleges, College Librarian (Selection Grade) and College Director of Physical Education (Selection Grade) should be eligible for promotion to Senior College Librarian (Selection Grade) / Senior College DPE (Selection Grade) six years’ service in the grade.

 

Those Sports Officers and Physical Instructors who possess qualifications equivalent to Directors of Physical Education and who have been selected against regular posts according to the procedure laid down by the UGC should be given the UGC scales and should also be redesignated as College Director of Physical Education.

 

Principals of Colleges

 

The scale of pay of a Principal of an undergraduate college should be equivalent to that of a Associate Professor. His basic pay should be fixed after granting her/him two advance increments.

 

The scale of pay of a Principal of a postgraduate college should be equivalent to that of a Professor and the basic pay should be fixed after two advance increments.

 

The essential qualifications for the post of a principal for an undergraduate college should be Ph.D. plus ten years’ teaching /research experience.

 

The essential qualifications for the post of a principal for a postgraduate college should be Ph.D plus fifteen years’ teaching/research experience.

 

Appointment and Scale of Pay of Vice Chancellor

 

Appointment of a Vice Chancellor should be made through a search-cum selection committee.

 

The Committee should, among others, hold consultations with the senior faculty of the institution.

 

The term of appointment of a Vice-Chancellor should uniformally be for five years and no person should hold the term of Vice Chancellor for more than twice altogether—whether in the same institution or elsewhere.

The scale of pay of Vice Chancellor should be Rs. 80000/-

 

A Vice-Chancellor may be allowed lump sum terminal benefit on prorata basis of Rs. 1.00 lakh for every completed year of service as Vice-Chancellor.

 

Anomalies and Non-Implemented Parts of the last PRC

 

All teachers should be given the benefits of the last pay revision w.e.f. 1.1.1996.

 

Teachers should be paid arrears of salary w.e.f. 1.1.1996.

 

Teachers who were in the scale of Associate Professor/Assistant Professor(Selection grade) on 1.1.1996 and who completed five years between 1.1.1996 and 27.7.1998 should be placed at Rs 14940/- basic.

 

Dual emoluments of Associate Professors under CAS and MPS should be abolished and all teachers should be placed in the same scale of pay of Associate Professor.

 

All teachers who are promoted as Associate Professor under CAS should be given two advance increments at the time of promotion.

 

Teachers promoted under CAS should be given the news scales of pay with effect from the date of their eligibility and not from a later date.

 

All those teachers who were promoted earlier under MPS should be considered eligible for a subsequent promotion  under CAS.

 

A teacher who has applied for an open position should not be debarred from applying for a position under CAS.

 

Other Academic Categories   

 

System Analysts who possess qualifications equivalent to that of a Assistant Professor or MCA/ M.Tech.(Computer Science or Information Tech.) should be placed in the scale of pay of Assistant Professor and be considered for promotion under CAS as has been recommended by the Committee for Librarians and DPEs.

11 comments October 3rd, 2008

UGC recommends 735 additional universities; actions that Orissa needs to take

Following is from a report in Economic Times.

To increase the enrolment rate in higher education, a UGC committee has suggested starting an additional 735 universities in the country during the 11th Plan ending 2012.

The UGC committee, comprising Prof Duraisami of Madras University and Prof Sudhansu Bhusan of National University of Education Planning and Administration, has said that more universities will be needed to increase gross enrolment rate — the percentage of youths in the age group of 18-24 years in higher education — to 15 per cent from the 10 per cent at present.

The committee, set up to suggest reforms on the affiliation system and monitoring of education in 11th plan, has worked out a formula of 20,000 students per university to achieve the target. As per this criteria, the requirement would be 735 universities in the country by 2012, the report said.

"We will study the report and make a final suggestion to the state governments for starting the new varsities," UGC Chairman Prof Sukhadeo Thorat said.

At present there are 388 universities in the country. The committee’s report assumes significance in view of the estimation of National Knowledge Commission last year, when it said that at least 1,500 universities are needed to make India a knowledge society.

The enrolment ratio in higher education is abysmal 10 per cent in India. It is less than eight per cent in states like Assam, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Uttarakhand.

Orissa’s population is 36,706,920, while India’s population is 1,129,866,154. So Orissa’s population is 3.24% of India’s population. So if India’s universities need to increase to a total of 388+735 = 1123. Then Orissa’s share should be 3.24% of that, which is 36.4. Considering Orissa at less than 8% is behind the national average of 10% in terms of enrolment ratio, Orissa will need to have at least 45.5, or say 46 universities. (This is based on using the 8% number for Orissa. It is actually a little over 6 for Orissa. So another 10 may be needed. But for the 11th plan lets stick with the number 46.)

  • The exisiting universities in Orissa are (13): Utkal, Sambalpur, Berhampur, NOU, FMU, OUAT, KIIT, SOS, Culture U, Ravenshaw, Sri Jagannath, NIT RKL, BPUT.
  • The new universities that are under construction are (8): WCCU, KBK Central, Sri Sri U, Vedanta U, ICFAI, Jagadguru, National Law U, Orissa Open University
  • Some institutes that are operating or under construction and that could become universities are (4): IIIT Bhubaneswar, IIT Bhubaneswar, NISER Bhubaneswar, AIIMS Bhubaneswar
  • Some institutes that may be opened and become universities are (3) : IIIT Berhampur, BITS, NID
  • Some colleges that have applied for deemed university status are (8): Krupajal, CEB, ASBM, Gunupur, Koustuv, Hi-Tech, CV Raman, UCE/OIT.
  • So the state needs to make at least 10 more universities.
    • One should be made in each of the undivided 13 districts which do not have a university yet. The 13 undivided districts are: Puri, Cuttack, Sundargarh, Baleswar, Sambalpur, Bolangir, Kalahandi, Koraput, Phulbani, Dhenkanal, Kendujhar, Ganjam and Mayurbhanj. Among them the five districts of Balangir, Kalahandi (Bhawanipatna), Phulbani, Dhenkanal (Angul) and Kendujhar do not have a university nor any new one has yet been announced. So the state should establish 5 universities, one each in each of these undivided districts.
    • CET Bhubaneswar should be made to a university.
    • A comprehensive university should be established in Rourkela.
    • A Bhubaneswar-Cuttack metropolitan university consisting of all government colleges in the Bhubaneswar and Cuttack area should be made.
    • Berhampur medical college should be made to a unitary health university.
    • A health university encompassing all of Orissa, with possible head quarters in Naraj should be made.
  • During the 12th and 13th plan at least the undivided districts which do not have two universities should get their second one (8): Those would be Baleswar (Bhadrakh), Balangir (Titlagarh), Kalahandi (Nabarangpur), Koraput (Malkangiri), Phulbani (Boudha), Dhenkanal, Kendujhar (Joda) and Mayurbhanj (Bangiriposi).
    • In addition universities may be established in major population centers without an university. These places include (5): Rayagada, Kalinganagar, Paradeep, Parlakhemundi, Jharsuguda,
    • And in districts which do not yet have a university (5): Bargarh, Deogarh, Kendrapada, Nayagarh, Nuapada, Sonepur.

If someone thinks that the above is too many, then they should compare the number of universities in California, whose population,at 36,553,215, is around the same as that of Orissa. However, Orissa’s area at 155,707 sq km is less than 40% of California’s area of 410,000 sq km.

9 comments August 10th, 2008

Fakir Mohan University, Balasore has “funded by UGC” tag

It received this tag in 2005. Following is from http://www.fmuniversity.org/index.htm.

The Fakir Mohan University, Vyasa Vihar, Balasore, Orissa was established by the Govt. of Orissa under Section 32 of the Orissa University Act, 1989(Act 5 of 1989)and it was notified vide the Government’s Notification No. 973 dated 3rd July, 1999. The University has also been duly recognized by the UGC Under Section 2(f) of the UGC Act vide the Notification No.F–9–1/2000 (CPP–I) dated 11 Feb.2000 and it is declared eligible to receive Central Financial assistance under sec 12(B) of the UGC Act 1956 vide notification No.F.9-1/2000(CPP-1)dtd-23rd Dec-2005.It has also been accredited by the Association of Indian Universities.

I am told North Orissa University in Baripada also has received this tag. I could not find any documentation of that (in the Internet) though.

2 comments January 24th, 2008

Which universities can be funded by UGC? How does a university get a “funded by UGC” tag?

The rules come from the document at http://www.ugc.ac.in/policy/rules_1975_1.html which is reachable via the page http://www.ugc.ac.in/policy/rules_uni_1975.html which is reachable via the page on UGC regulations at http://www.ugc.ac.in/policy/regulation.html. We reproduce the content of the first document below.

 

UGC (Fitness of Certain Universities for Grants)Rules, 1975

To be Published in the Gazette of India
Part II, Section 3, Sub-Section (i)

No. F.92/74U.2.
Government of India
Ministry of Education & Social Welfare
(Department of Education)

New Delhi, the 9th Sep., 1974.

NOTIFICATION

In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 25 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956 (3 of 1956) read with Section 12A Now read as 12B of that Act, the Central Government hereby makes the following rules, namely:-

  1. Short title, application and commencement:

    1. These rules may be called the University Grants Commission (Fitness of Certain Universities for Grants) Rules, 1974.

    2. They shall apply to every university established after the commencement of the University Grants Commission (Amendment) Act, 1972 (33 of 1972), other than,

      1. an agricultural university,

      2. a university established against the advice of the Commission for imparting, exclusively, technological or medical education; and

      3. an institution recognised by the Commission, under the clause (f) of Section 2 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956 (3 of 1956), on or after the 17th day of June 1972, the date on which the University Grants Commission (Amendment) Act, 1972 (33 of 1972) came into force.

    3. They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.

  2. Fitness for Grant � �No University to which these rules apply shall be declared to be fit to receive grants from the Central Government the University Grants Commission or any other Organisation receiving any funds from the Central Government unless the Commission is satisfied that:

    1. the University is a University established or incorporated by or under a Central Act, or

    2. in the case of any other University, the establishment of the University is justified on one or more of the following grounds, namely:-

      1. inadequacy of the facilities for higher education and research in the area in which the University is situated and the inability of the existing University or Universities of the state concerned to provide for such facilities either in its or their existing faculties or schools or by the establishment of postgraduate centres or campuses.

      2. the University has or shall have some special features or new, programme and activities which will augment the existing academic resources in the country.

      3. the University has or shall have programmes for the upliftment of backward areas or removal of regional imbalances.

    3. the law under which the University is established contains a provision for the establishment of a Planning Board or Committee consisting of eminent educationists to indicate the lines on which the University shall develop.

    4. in the law under which the University established, due weight hasbeen given to the recommendations made by:-

      1. the Education Commission (196466) constituted by a resolution of the Government of India;

      2. the Committee on the Governance of Universities appointed by the Commission; and

      3. the Committees of Panels appointed by the Commission during the last ten years:

    5. the University is not merely an affiliating University but a multifaculty University having adequate facilities, for teaching and research in a number of subjects.

    6. the university has powers to provide instruction through correspondence courses and to declare a college, department, centre or campus as an autonomous college, department, centreor campus, respectively,

    7. every teaching department, centre, discipline in the University has a provision for a minimum staff of one Professor, two Raiders and an adequate number of lecturers alongwith the necessary supporting staff,

    8. adequate machinery for the health residence and welfare for the students has either been provided in, or resources are being made available for the purpose to the University;

    9. the university has been provided with adequate facilities in respect of building, equipment, books, library, hostel and staff quarters, excluding colleges library or institutions affiliated or admitted to its privileges,

    10. whose aggregate value is not less than Rs 2 crores alongwith the developed land or the State Government is prepared to give an assurance to the Commission that a minimum amount of Rs 2 crores shall be made available to the University during the initial period of five years for the provision of the above mentioned facilities in addition to the developed land.

Sd/-
(I.D.N. Sahi)
Secretary to the Government of India

The Manager,
Government of India Press,
Ring Road, New Delhi.

 

Copy forwarded for information to:-

  1. The Secretary, UGC, New Delhi.

  2. The Comptroller & Auditor General of India, New Delhi.

  3. The Accountant General, Central Revenues, New Delhi.

  4. All State Governments and Administrations.

  5. All Ministries of the Government of India.

  6. All the Universities in India.

  7. All the coordination Sections of various Divisions in the Ministry of Education and Social Welfare.

Sd/-
(M.N. Sinha)
Under Secretary

 

The following comes from http://www.ugc.ac.in/policy/rules_1978.html.

UGC (Fitness of Technological Universities for Grants) Rules, 1978

To be Published in the Gazette of India
Part II, Section 3, Sub-Section (i)

Government of India
Ministry of Education & Social Welfare
(Department of Education)

New Delhi, the 31st May, 1978

NOTIFICATION

G.S.R_____________ In exercise of the power conferred by Section 25, read with Section 12A Now read as 12B of the University Grants Commission 1956 (3 of 1956), the Central Government hereby makes the following rules, namely-

  1. Short title, application and commencement:-

    1. These rules may be called the University Grants Commission (Fitness of Technological Universities for Grants) Rules, 1978.

    2. They shall apply to every Technological University established on or after the 17th day of June, 1972 the date on which the University Grants Commission (Amendment) Act, 1972 (33 of 1972) came into force.

    3. They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.

  2. Definitions:In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires-

    1. ��Industry� means any business, trade undertaking manufacture or calling employers and includes any calling, service, employment,handicraft, or industrial occupation or a vocation of workmen:

    2. �Technological University� means a university which provides for instruction and research in any branch or branches of engineering and technology, and for the advancement of learning and dissemination of knowledge in such branch or branches.

  3. Fitness for Grant:No Technological University to which these rules apply be declared to be fit to receive grant from the Central Government, the Commission or any other organisation receiving any funds from the Central Government unless the Commission is satisfied in respect of the following matters, namely-

    1. there is a felt need to set up such a university and there is an evidence that the existing universities in a state cannot effectively meet the requirements of development of Engineering and Technological education through its colleges either directly maintained by or affiliated to it;

    2. it has adequate facilities for postgraduate teaching and research and has facilities for adequate support of science departments of its own;

    3. it provides adequate link with the industry for its courses and is in a position to provide for high level consultancy to the industry;

    4. it provides courses of extension and devotes attention for regional development;

    5. the State Government ensures the provision of adequate basic facilities in respect of scientific staff, supporting staff, buildings, equipment, library, hostels, staff quarters, playgrounds and the like as may be determined in consultation with the All India Council for Technical Education;

    6. in the law under which such university is established, due weightage has been given to the recommendations made by-

      1. the Education Commission (196466) constituted by a Resolution of the Government of India,

      2. the Committee on the Governance of Universities appointed by the Commission.

Sd/-
(S.N. Pandita)
Joint Secretary to the Govt. of India

See also:

  1. UGC (Fitness of Agricultural Universities for Grants) Rules, 1975.

  2. UGC (Fitness of Open Universities for Grants) Rules, 1988.

October 15th, 2007

How does a deemed university differ from a university?

This is addressed with some pointers in this blog. A list of deemed universities as of 22nd May 2006 is here. The 79 pages UGC act document is here.

1 comment October 15th, 2007

UGC Predoctoral and Postdoctoral fellowships in Sciences

The details are extracted from the following documents

* D.S. Kothari Post-Doctoral Fellowships (18-22 thousands/month)
* Research Fellowship in Sciences for Meritorious Students (8 thousands/month)

Continue Reading 188 comments October 15th, 2007

UGC Chairman’s article in Hindustan Times

Following is from http://www.hindustantimes.com/.

Higher education in India has witnessed manifold changes since Independence. The number of universities have gone up from 20 to 378, colleges from 500 to 18,064 and teachers from 15,000 to nearly 4.80 lakh. Consequently, enrolment has increased from a mere 1 lakh in 1950 to over 112 lakh in 2006, and the gross enrolment ratio (GER) in higher education has risen from an abysmal 1 per cent to 10 per cent.

Besides these numeric expansions, there has been significant diversification, with a marked shift in courses from the conventional disciplines to inter-disciplinary in emergent areas. Further, it’s not just public institutions, but also the private-aided and unaided sector that has had an important role in this expansion.

These developments notwithstanding, higher education today is faced with a number of challenges. In the forefront is the issue of improving overall enrolment, along with equitable access and quality education. We now recognise that the current access at 10 per cent is too low when compared with the world average of 23 per cent and 40 to 60 per cent in case of the developed countries. Besides, there are regional and social group imbalances in access, which varies between 6 to 8 per cent for the SC, ST, OBC and Muslims. The most deprived are the poor, for whom access is no more than 2 per cent. The GER in rural areas, at 7.5 per cent, compares poorly with the urban areas, at 24 per cent. Besides, regional disparities are also noticeable, with as many as 350 districts in the country having GER lower than the national average and 29 districts having GER of less than 5 per cent.

Equally important is the problem of quality. Out of 14,080 colleges, only 6,000, and out of 224 state universities, only 167 are able to meet the minimum prescribed norms and standards for receiving UGC development grants. Further, NAAC  assessment of 3,492 colleges and 140 universities reveals that only 9 per cent of the colleges and 31 per cent of the universities are rated as A-grade and an overwhelming 68 per cent of them are rated as B-grade.

Besides, there are issues related to academic reforms. While quite a few institutions have been able to implement credit-based courses and a semester system with continuous internal assessment, others have continued with annual examinations, largely based on external written examination. Also, the affiliating university system is over-burdened as the number of colleges affiliated to each university has been on the rise.

Enhancing access with inclusion and excellence are the main challenges, which the Eleventh Plan approach recognised. It recognised that increase in access will have to come with focus on the regions and social groups that presently have lower GER. These also happen to be the regions with lower quality educational institutions.

The strategy of the Eleventh Plan will revolve around the issue of expansion, inclusiveness and quality, including academic reforms. The Plan sets a target GER of 15 per cent by 2012. This is proposed to be achieved through increase in the intake capacity of existing institutions and through establishment of new institutions. Under the PM’s initiative, 30 new central universities have already been announced.

This strategy for expansion will have to be combined with measures for reducing regional imbalances, with central support to states on matching basis. Under the PM’s initiative, the establishment of a college in each of the 350 districts with low GER and less number of colleges per lakh population has been announced. Besides, there will be focus on hilly, border, tribal, remote, rural and small town areas.

The strategy for enrolment expansion will be combined with that of inclusion for social groups like women, SC, ST, OBC, minorities like Muslims, the physically challenged and the poor in general. This will include support to universities and colleges having high proportion of students from these groups, and also to institutions located in districts with relatively higher concentration of their population.

There are a number of steps proposed for promoting quality and excellence. First, it will include support to 60 per cent colleges and 40 per cent universities that are so far ineligible to receive UGC grants. Bringing them within the orbit of UGC grant, with matching grants from states, shall certainly improve their quality.

Second, it will comprise measures for bridging the quality gap between C- and A-grade colleges and universities, which will again be based on matching commitment from states.

Third, it will focus on adequate availability of quality teachers, which, in turn, will require enhanced funding for research and
fellowships for PhD. It will also require steps with respect to salary, appointment, mobility of teachers and others.

The issue of academic practices relating to admission, examination and assessment has been in the public domain ever since the Radhakrishna and the Kothari Commission. These have been selectively implemented but have not yet become a uniform practice. It is important to identify the enabling conditions for their wider use. This may require  selective approach, which calls for sharing of experience of those who have tried them successfully and with those who tried but failed.

The issue of regulating private education providers in a manner such that it facilitates their role and, at the same time, ensures quality and equity is equally important. All the three types of private providers — namely private-aided, private-unaided/self-financing institutions and also self-financing courses run by public-funded institutions — have seen rapid expansion in recent years. The Eleventh Plan proposed to develop a regulatory framework for private sector institutions, regulating admission, fees and governance.

In this sense, the Eleventh Plan takes a leap forward. It is important that these policies are implemented. It is with this in mind that the UGC organised four regional conferences of Vice-Chancellors, which culminated in the national conferences of Vice-Chancellors on October 10 and 11, to discuss the above issues and arrive at a common view.

Sukhadeo Thorat is Chairman, University Grants Commission

3 comments October 15th, 2007

Samaja editorial on higher education

October 13th, 2007

Summary of the recommdations of the National Conference on the development of higher education

Following is from the PIB release http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=31853.

The University Grants Commission organised a two day National Conference on Development of Higher Education on 10th and 11th October,2007 at New Delhi.  The two day National Conference was attended by Vice Chancellors of Central, State, Deemed Universities and other eminent educationists. Six technical sessions were held on the themes of (i) Access and Expansion (ii)Equity & Inclusion (iii) Quality & Excellence (iv) Private Participation in Higher Education and Internationalization (v) Academic and Administrative Reforms (vi) Financing and Funding Mechanism. Following is a summary of the recommendations made by the participants of the National Conference.

1.                   There was a consensus that the triple objective of Expansion, Inclusion and Excellence are integral and complementary to one another and must be seen as three dimensions of the same problem and issues related to them will have to be addressed simultaneously and with due deference to one another.

2.                   It was agreed that access to higher education has to be increased to 20-25 percent and that the target GER of 15 by the end of the 11th plan appears reasonable. The participants agreed with the two-pronged strategy of establishment of new institutions and also capacity enhancement of existing institutions. They however emphasised that this should be done with due regard to the social and market relevance and changing preference of students and that the focus of expansion should be on inclusion and excellence and an approach that is expedient.

a.       Capacity addition in existing instituions

b.       Focus on smaller towns, rural and remote areas and backward regions where GER is lower than the national average;

c.       A women university in each state

d.       Established universities to set up rural campuses

e.       Priority to professional and technical courses in public institutions;

f.         Restructuring conventional courses

g.       Focus on professional, technical and market-oriented courses must not be at the cost of humanities and social sciences.

h.       Universities should not be reduced to skill-development centre; their focus should be intense engagements in intellectual activities;

i.         Enrolment at the PG level across all disciplines need to be enhanced;

j.         Universities and colleges to be of optimal size; conduct a study to decide;

3.                   Rationalise the affiliating system: reduce the number of colleges per university; make affiliation more effective; autonomy to bigger and better colleges;  UG examination board within the university;

4.                   It was insisted upon that the strategies for expansion as outlined in these conference must not rely upon the private sector alone for this will adversely impinge upon the goal of equity and inclusion. Thus public investment in higher education has to be increased substantially;

5.                   It was reiterated time and again that mere expansion in institutions and intake capacity shall not necessarily make higher education inclusive. This will require an proactive approach and strategies for removing the regional and social imbalances. The participants agreed with the approach and strategies suggested by the UGC and also with the recommendations of the regional conferences:

a.       New universities and colleges in areas that have GER lower than the national average;

b.       Strengthen and expand existing universities and colleges that are located in areas that have GER lower than the national average;

c.       Special assistance to institutions located in under-privileged regions/areas and also to those that have higher proportion of such social groups as SCs, STs, OBCs, Minorities, Girls, Physically Challenged in their student and staff population;

d.       Establishment of equal opportunity office in each university;

e.       Capacity building centres for students from the deprived social groups;

6.                   It was emphasised that the strategies for inclusion must also include the physically challenged – departments of disability studies;

7.                   Focus will also be on school education;

8.                   Better endowed and privileged universities and colleges need to network with under-privileged institutions located in rural and remote areas and thus offer the opportunity of providing the best talents and technology to the rural, backward and deprived institutions;

9.                   Regarding excellence in higher education will have to focus on Infrastructure, physical facilities and human resources particularly teachers;

10.               The national conference is in agreement with the strategies suggested by the UGC and the recommendations of the regional conferences;

a.       Bring the non-12b colleges & universities under the ugc fold – on matching grant basis;

b.       Priority funding for bringing B and C band universities at the level of A band universities;

c.       Faculty development through fellowships and FIP

11.               Much depends upon the availability of quality teaching faculty but for which quality of higher education shall not improve;

12.               State governments to accord priority to higher education – Remove ban on creation of faculty positions and appointment

a.       Nurturing Talents and Promoting Quality Faculty: Teaching Staff: Special and urgent efforts are needed in attracting and retaining the best available talents as faculty members in higher education. Autonomy with responsibility, performance based incentives, revisit the compensation and rewards;

b.       Rigour in faculty selection, PhD admission on merit and through rigorus selection process; faculty development;

c.       Student evaluation and feedback of courses and faculty should be introduced and these should be used for incentivising faculty members;

d.       Financial assistance to universities and colleges for International faculty exchange, Inter-institutional faculty exchange within the country and also for faculty exchange between industry and academic institutions;

13.               On the issue of academic and administrative reforms the conference is in agreement with the recommendations of the regional conferences on updating of curricula, examination and evaluation system, semester and credit based courses, inter-institutional mobility of students;

14.               The process of reforms has already been delayed for long and every possible efforts should be made to put them into practice. The leadership of the university should take the initiative and must exert their authority to ensure that these are implemented urgently;

15.               It was indicated that Infrastructural constraints particularly inadequate faculty is the biggest constraint in the implementation of these reforms;

16.               Higher education must protect its autonomy and the most effective way of doing the same lies in behaving with responsibility. Autonomy with accountability, therefore, has to be the guiding principle. The higher education fraternity must work hard and excel in their pursuits to command respect. The higher education system needs to protect its autonomy and in no circumstances the universities should allow the external forces to control the contents of higher education.

17.               Multiplicity of regulatory authorities is a concerns encroaching upon the university autonomy and creates confusion. It is suggested that:

§         The UGC should be the sole regulatory authority for universities and that other regulatory authorities should respect the autonomy of these institutions and should play only an advisory role.

§         The mandates of other regulatory authorities – the AICTE, NCTE, etc should be confined to colleges offering professional and technical courses and private and self financed non-affiliated institutions only;

§         As medical and agricultural universities and colleges are funded by separate administrative Ministries, the MCI and ICAR should continue to regulate the medical and agricultural education in universities and colleges;

§         Other regulatory authorities should consult and involve the university concerned in their approval and accreditation process of affiliated institutions;

§         Governance and Decision making process:

o        size and composition of decision making bodies.

o        Decentralisation

o        Departmental autonomy

o        Leadership in universities plays vital role in promoting quality and excellence in higher education. Thus The Vice Chancellors should be appointed

§         on merit proven administrative administrative capabilities;

§         by search committee comprising of people of repute and other external forces should not be allowed to play part in the selection of vice chancellors’

As regards internationalisation, participants agreed with the recommendations of the regional conference. Watchword has been that it must not adversely impinge on the goal of equity and quality. Strongly regulatory mechanism for the foreign universities was suggested;

So was the case with the issues concerning private participation in higher education. Even the private and self financed universities were in agreement that these universities should be guided by the principles of equity and justice and commitment for providing quality higher education; A strong regulatory framework was suggested for the purpose;

The crisis in higher education is not as much due to lack of resources as it is of priorities. Unless higher education appears high on the priority of the union and state governments, the resource constraints shall continue to remain;

Cost recovery from students is already very high in the range of 40 – 50% and the scope of raising fees may be limited.

1 comment October 11th, 2007

PM’s remarks in the full planning commission meeting

Following is from a PIB report.

The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, chaired the full Planning Commission meeting here today. Following is the text of the Prime Minister’s closing remarks on the occasion:

            “We have had a wide ranging discussion on a subject which is vital for the continued progress of our country. We have covered all the critical areas in education, although I believe that more work needs to be done to give a final shape to the Skill Development area.

            The approach presented by the note of the Planning Commission has received broad support. The proposed scale of Central Government funding for education in the 11th Plan amounts to almost Rs.2.5 lakh crores in constant prices, which is a four-fold increase over the 10th Plan. The share of education in the total Plan will correspondingly increase from 7.7% to 19.4%.  This reflects the high priority being given to education by our Government and represents credible progress towards the objective of raising public spending of the Centre and the States combined to 6% of our GDP.

            The proposals discussed today are at varying degrees of conceptualisation. While some are ready to be operationalised in a few weeks, others will take longer to take final shape. The Planning Commission, the Ministry of Human Resource Development and other Ministries concerned with Skill Development must now move quickly to operationalise the approach agreed to today by preparing detailed programmes for each of the major new initiatives.

I wish to emphasise a few points in particular:

1. Focus on Quality Education in Elementary Education

The Sarva Siksha Abhiyan has made breakthroughs in providing universal access in most parts of the country even though I recognise that the quality and quantity of high incidence of drop-out rates I think constitute, I think serious drawbacks. It must now move to a phase where the goal would be to extract the maximum value for the money being spent. It should rapidly move its focus to quality improvement. It should even be called the Second Phase of SSA. The Ministry of HRD should work out minimum standards which must be met by all schools, whether public or private, and also chalk out the details of how to ensure that the objective is actually achieved. Special attention needs to be paid to districts with concentrations of SC, ST and minority populations. The Mid Day Meals (MDM) scheme has to be rapidly expanded to cover 60 million additional children at the upper primary level by the end of year 2008-09 and I am glad to report that the Cabinet had today approved this ambitious proposal.

2. Secondary and Higher Secondary Education

            We are setting out a goal of universalising secondary education. This is clearly the next step after universalising elementary education. While the goal is laudable, much work needs to be done before we are in a position to launch the Scheme for Universalisation of Access for Secondary Education (SUCCESS). Its details need to be quickly spelt out and discussed with States so that we are fully ready to launch it from the year 2008-09. We must not underestimate the complexity of this task as the principles for universalising elementary education cannot be easily transferred to secondary education. The physical, financial, pedagogical and human resource needs are quite different. We also need to recognize the role currently being played by the private sector and the policy design must factor this in. Detailed strategies and plans would need to be worked out rapidly for each state. Special attention would need to be paid to Districts with SC/ST/OBC/Minority concentration. The points that are made by Shri Sharad Pawar when we are dealing with children from disadvantaged background I think their special needs need to be kept in mind. The recommendations of the Sachar Committee need to be seriously considered and factored into our planning processes while planning for this programme.

To kick start the initiative, the proposal for setting up 6000 high quality model schools with costs to be shared by the Centre and the States needs to be finalised within the next few weeks. The mechanism for setting up and managing these schools – whether in the government sector or through private participation in some aspects – should be worked out by the Ministry of HRD, in consultation with the Planning Commission. It must be recognised that about 60% of secondary schools are under private management and the Ministry and the Planning Commission should focus on incorporating the role of the private sector wherever possible. An outline of the proposal should be available within two months.

Expanding secondary education would run into capacity constraints on many fronts – in getting an adequate number of mathematics and science teachers, in ensuring better attendance of teachers, in ensuring a high quality of education and in ensuring accountability of schools. This would require attention to be paid to teacher training and  managerial control aspects. The Ministry of HRD, there is no doubt that  elaborate specific proposals for meeting this need.

3. Higher Education

The Higher Education System has been relatively neglected in the past decade. It was the investment made in this system in the 50s and 60s which has given us a strong knowledge base in many fields. We are committed to rapidly expanding this sector as well.

There is now general agreement on setting up 16 Central Universities in States which do not have a university, 14 Central Universities in other States, 8 IITs, 7 IIMs and 5 Indian Institute of Science, Education & Researches. I am already getting requests from a large number of states for locating these institutions in their states. I am sure that with the large number of institutions we are considering, we would be able to satisfy every state to some extent.

Some of these universities/institutions should, ab initio, be targeted to achieve world class standards. For the Central Universities aimed at world class standards it will be necessary to be more ambitious in terms of infrastructure, especially if they are to include departments of science, medicine and engineering. This involves higher costs. The scope for private participation in these universities should therefore be systematically explored. The location of these institutions should be determined in a manner which balances the desire for achieving a greater geographical spread with the potential synergies arising from co-location. Location decisions should not be purely based on land availability. We should encourage States to compete for the location of these prized Central Institutions.

These are decisions which would define the educational growth trajectory of states for many decades to come and must be taken with utmost care.  The details and the roll-out of this high visibility programme should be worked out by an Inter-Ministerial Group consisting of the Ministry of HRD, the University Grants Commission and the Planning Commission and outside experts which the Planning Commission can appoint within a fortnight. Locational decisions should be taken within the next two months.

Once the broad policy framework is clear, we should make a start with detailed planning for the proposed Central Universities aiming at world class standards. The proposal in the Planning Commission note to set up distinct teams, to go into details of the structure and operationally relevant issues for each university is a good idea. We should have a creative approach to the design of these new centres of learning. Ideas such as common entrance tests, the semester system, flexible syllabi, student body diversity, inter-institutional student transferability, faculty recruitment and transferability, autonomy and governance reform should all be well thought out in this design. The final approval of funding for these universities should be given on the basis of the reports of these teams.

We should also seriously look at the proposal for fee increases to reasonable levels in a graduated manner accompanied by a scheme of extensive scholarships and loans which would ensure that no student is denied education because of his or her financial constraints This is a reasonable approach and the Planning Commission should work out these proposals in greater detail.

We must also seriously examine the role of private initiative in supplementing public funding for higher education. We obviously cannot rely on the private response alone but we should welcome it as a supplement. I believe that there is a role for private initiative in this area. Many states have developed good quality private institutions. We should carefully examine the policy issues that need to be addressed to promote growth of such institutions in the future.

Finally I would like to draw attention to an aspect of quality education that has been touched upon but not adequately elaborated. The IITs and IIMs have acquired a “star status” globally and we have ambitious plans of expanding the number of such institutions. However, there are large potential capacities within existing institutions which can be easily captured. Some of the existing IITs and IIMs are well endowed with land and have the capacity to expand the size of the student population by three fold. We are currently planning an expansion of 54% for providing reservation to students from other backward classes (OBCs). In fact I feel we should set up a committee to go into the optimum capacity of the existing IITs and IIMs. The Planning Commission and the Ministry of HRD should set up a group for this purpose.

The role and functions of apex institutions like UGC, All India Council of Technical Education, Medical Council of India, etc, need to be reviewed in the context of the large number of changes that have taken place in higher, professional and technical education in the last many years and the demands of a new knowledge economy.  The Planning Commission in consultation with the Ministry of Human Resource Development and other concerned Ministries should set up a Working Group to suggest a specific reforms agenda in this area.

4. Vocational Education

One area where I believe that we have slipped a lot in our commitments is in vocational education and skill development. I had mentioned on 15th August that we will develop the capacity for enrolling one crore children under this stream. The proposals, however, are too sketchy – both in vocational education and skill development. I would like to Planning Commission, in consultation with all concerned Ministries to finalise this proposal before 2nd October so that we see some real action on the ground this year.

Conclusion

            In conclusion, I compliment the Planning Commission and the Ministry of HRD for having put in sustained effort in giving shape to our commitment to improve the quantity and quality of our education system. However, what I would like to emphasise is that we cannot discuss options endlessly. We need to work with a sense of urgency and work to fixed timelines if we have to see action on the ground. Otherwise, we will continue with a theoretical exercise within these four walls for some more years. We need to work hard to ensure that all that we have agreed today takes off in a reasonably short time frame. Proposals for setting up 6000 schools covering all blocks, having 30 Central Universities and providing large capacities in vocational education must be finalised within the next two months. Locational decisions must be taken fast. It is only then that the common man will have faith in our ability to deliver on our promises.”

2 comments September 14th, 2007

UGC’s thrust and priorities in the 11th plan

The document at http://www.ugc.ac.in/notices/xiplanthrust_priorities.pdf discusses UGC’s thrusts and priorities for the 11th plan. I hope Orissa Universities are taking appropriate steps in this direction. I urge anyone with expertise and ideas on how universities in Orissa can take advantage of the UGC thrust areas to make suggestions in the comments section. Furthermore, if they have contacts in Orissa Universities (such as, they know the VC, the registrar or infleuntial faculty), then they can directly suggest ideas to them.

August 31st, 2007

Rajiv Gandhi Fellowship for tribal students

Earlier we gave pointers to the UGC ad for this scholarship. Following is the latest PIB release on this.

The Ministry of Tribal Affairs provided Rs. 15.90 crores as fellowship to more than 600 Tribal students during 2006-07 for taking up higher studies. The fellowship provided under Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship Scheme for pursuing higher studies such as M.Phil and Ph.D at universities, institutions recognized by UGC.

Each year more than 600 students are provided the fellowship for the maximum duration of five years. The scheme is implemented through UGC on behalf of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. Financial assistance of Rs. 8000/- per month is provided for initial two years to Junior Research Fellow and Rs. 9000/- per month for remaining period of the fellowship.

Beside this fellowship amount, contingency fund for humanities and social sciences is also provided at the rate of Rs. 10,000/- per annum for initial two years of the fellowship and Rs. 20,500/- per annum for remaining period of the research work. In the case of sciences the Contingency fund is provided Rs. 12,000/- per annum for initial two years and Rs. 25,000/- per annum for remaining tenure of the fellowship. The Government also provides assistance to the host institute for providing infrastructure. Amount of the departmental assistance is Rs. 3000/- per annum per student. An additional assistance of Rs. 1000/- per month is provided for escorts or reader assistance in cases of physically and visually handicapped candidates.

259 comments August 7th, 2007

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