The criteria for selection
The plan for selecting Institutions of Eminence was first announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his budget speech in 2016. Then, the plan was to pick 20 public and private institutions and make them administratively autonomous, even from the main higher education regulator, the University Grants Commission.
The policy was drafted for consultation in 2016 but abandoned because of several concerns, including the proposal to extend financial support to private institutions. By the time the policy was notified in August 2017, it had mutated into one for “institutions of eminence deemed to be universities”, with public funds to the tune of Rs 10,000 crore promised only for the 10 public institutions.
Section 4 of the regulations contains an “indicative list of parameters” that institutes are expected to meeting within five to 15 years of being granted Institute of Eminence status. They should be “multi-disciplinary or inter-disciplinary”; have foreign or “foreign-qualified faculty”; a mix of Indian and foreign students, there should be at least one teacher for every 20 students at the time of granting “institution of eminence” status and the staff strength should be increased so that it is one for every 10 students in five years.
While the regulations focused on the record of existing institutions, they also allowed new institutions to apply. To be considered, the “sponsoring organisation” – compulsorily a non-profit under Indian law – has to furnish a blueprint and show evidence of financial strength. It needs to have a “fifteen-year strategic vision plan and a five-year rolling implementation plan, with clear annual milestones and action plans” to meet the required standards. At the time of applying, the sponsors of a proposed institution “should have identified” the first Chancellor, Vice Chancellor and the “core team” that will set the institution up. The applicant “should have sufficient evidence to show that it has experience in translating plans into real achievements in any field”.
A proposed institution, like an existing one, must have an “initial corpus fund of Rs 60 crore” to be increased annually to Rs 150 crore in ten years, a “guaranteed pipeline” of Rs 500 crore and a “credible plan for additional Rs 1,000 crore”. The members of the sponsoring society or trust that is yet to set up an institution, should have a collective net worth of Rs 5,000 crore. For an existing institution, the society members can be collectively worth Rs 3,000 crore.
The document released by the official of the Press Information Bureau said Reliance Foundation will commit Rs. 9,500 crores towards the project.
‘World class institutions’
All selected institutions, set free from all other higher education regulations and even state university legislations, will now be governed only by the regulations defined in this scheme. These regulations will apply to “every existing or proposed” institution granted the special status, the official of the Press Information Bureau said.
The main goal of the institutions will be to achieve a respectable rank in the global university ranking system. Section 4 of the University Grants Commission (Institutions of Eminence Deemed to be Universities) Regulations, 2017, says:
“[The institute] should come in top five hundred of any of the world renowned ranking frameworks (such as the Times Higher Education World University Rankings or QS or Shanghai’s Jiao Tong University) in the first ten years of setting up or being declared as Institution of Eminence, and having achieved top five hundred rank, should consistently improve its ranking to come in the top one hundred, eventually over time.”
Toward this end, they will be free to employ foreign faculty, admit foreign students, decide their own fee structures but also ensure low student-faculty ratios and high-quality teaching, research and facilities.
Limited winners
No private university will receive public funds for meeting the Institute of Eminence standards.
Administrators of private universities say they applied because they “constantly struggle” to navigate the various regulatory structures – the University Grants Commission, the state government, the professional education councils such as the Medical Council, Bar Council, the Council of Architecture and others.
“We were given the hope that if we were selected, we would be freed of these regulations,” said the vice-chancellor of a private university. “That is the only reason anybody applied.”
Many are feeling disappointed with the selection of just three private universities.
“This was meant to be a reform process to free up 20 institutions,” said Pramath Raj Sinha, one of the founders of Ashoka University which, too, was a contender. “My impression was that it was about picking 10 people and giving them an opportunity, not to pick three winners. This is a missed opportunity for significant reform.”
He was not the only one to think the committee got it wrong. The governing body member of another private university said: “In the process of execution, everything got subverted. They had to bet on the right people and the right model – I think the committee was not properly briefed and I think they decided they have to include Reliance.”
The vice chancellor of the private university said: “The good way to build world-class institutions is to develop a much larger pool the way many East Asian countries have. To say that there are only six institutions of eminence is a damning indictment of the higher education system in India.
The criteria for selection
The plan for selecting Institutions of Eminence was first announced by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his budget speech in 2016. Then, the plan was to pick 20 public and private institutions and make them administratively autonomous, even from the main higher education regulator, the University Grants Commission.
The policy was drafted for consultation in 2016 but abandoned because of several concerns, including the proposal to extend financial support to private institutions. By the time the policy was notified in August 2017, it had mutated into one for “institutions of eminence deemed to be universities”, with public funds to the tune of Rs 10,000 crore promised only for the 10 public institutions.
Section 4 of the regulations contains an “indicative list of parameters” that institutes are expected to meeting within five to 15 years of being granted Institute of Eminence status. They should be “multi-disciplinary or inter-disciplinary”; have foreign or “foreign-qualified faculty”; a mix of Indian and foreign students, there should be at least one teacher for every 20 students at the time of granting “institution of eminence” status and the staff strength should be increased so that it is one for every 10 students in five years.
While the regulations focused on the record of existing institutions, they also allowed new institutions to apply. To be considered, the “sponsoring organisation” – compulsorily a non-profit under Indian law – has to furnish a blueprint and show evidence of financial strength. It needs to have a “fifteen-year strategic vision plan and a five-year rolling implementation plan, with clear annual milestones and action plans” to meet the required standards. At the time of applying, the sponsors of a proposed institution “should have identified” the first Chancellor, Vice Chancellor and the “core team” that will set the institution up. The applicant “should have sufficient evidence to show that it has experience in translating plans into real achievements in any field”.
A proposed institution, like an existing one, must have an “initial corpus fund of Rs 60 crore” to be increased annually to Rs 150 crore in ten years, a “guaranteed pipeline” of Rs 500 crore and a “credible plan for additional Rs 1,000 crore”. The members of the sponsoring society or trust that is yet to set up an institution, should have a collective net worth of Rs 5,000 crore. For an existing institution, the society members can be collectively worth Rs 3,000 crore.
The document released by the official of the Press Information Bureau said Reliance Foundation will commit Rs. 9,500 crores towards the project.
‘World class institutions’
All selected institutions, set free from all other higher education regulations and even state university legislations, will now be governed only by the regulations defined in this scheme. These regulations will apply to “every existing or proposed” institution granted the special status, the official of the Press Information Bureau said.
The main goal of the institutions will be to achieve a respectable rank in the global university ranking system. Section 4 of the University Grants Commission (Institutions of Eminence Deemed to be Universities) Regulations, 2017, says:
“[The institute] should come in top five hundred of any of the world renowned ranking frameworks (such as the Times Higher Education World University Rankings or QS or Shanghai’s Jiao Tong University) in the first ten years of setting up or being declared as Institution of Eminence, and having achieved top five hundred rank, should consistently improve its ranking to come in the top one hundred, eventually over time.”
Toward this end, they will be free to employ foreign faculty, admit foreign students, decide their own fee structures but also ensure low student-faculty ratios and high-quality teaching, research and facilities.
Limited winners
No private university will receive public funds for meeting the Institute of Eminence standards.
Administrators of private universities say they applied because they “constantly struggle” to navigate the various regulatory structures – the University Grants Commission, the state government, the professional education councils such as the Medical Council, Bar Council, the Council of Architecture and others.
“We were given the hope that if we were selected, we would be freed of these regulations,” said the vice-chancellor of a private university. “That is the only reason anybody applied.”
Many are feeling disappointed with the selection of just three private universities.
“This was meant to be a reform process to free up 20 institutions,” said Pramath Raj Sinha, one of the founders of Ashoka University which, too, was a contender. “My impression was that it was about picking 10 people and giving them an opportunity, not to pick three winners. This is a missed opportunity for significant reform.”
He was not the only one to think the committee got it wrong. The governing body member of another private university said: “In the process of execution, everything got subverted. They had to bet on the right people and the right model – I think the committee was not properly briefed and I think they decided they have to include Reliance.”
The vice chancellor of the private university said: “The good way to build world-class institutions is to develop a much larger pool the way many East Asian countries have. To say that there are only six institutions of eminence is a damning indictment of the higher education system in India.