Edu-leaders

Just after India ’s independence one of the first steps taken to make India self reliant was setting up of high quality institutions of higher education. The kind of academic frenzy that India went into after its first prime minister Jawahar Lal Nehru planned the IITs has been reawakened in this sector. Not only are we seeing a boom in the establishment of private educational institutions, but we are also witnessing the same excitement with a number of new initiatives planned by the government in this sector.

The XIth Five Year Plan, states that the government will build 8 Indian Institutes of Technology, 7 Indian Institutes of Management, 10 National Institutes of Technology 14 universities aiming at world class standards (also called innovation universities) and 16 Central universities in states which do not have a central university. As the government moves on to invite even the foreign universities to join in on the frenzy, we take a look on where we are on the various institutions planned by the government.

Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs)
Classes started for BTech courses in six of the eight campuses in academic year 2008-2009 from temporary locations with 120 students. In two campuses Indore and Mandi the classes started in 2009-2010 session. The location for the permanent campus is being provided for free by the state government to the central government. All the new IIT’s are being mentored by older IITs to facilitate their establishment. The government is trying to address the uneven spread of higher education institutions and has ensured that even the most backward states get their fair share.

Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs)
The Rajiv Gandhi Indian Institute of Management (RGIIM), Shillong has been established in Shillong (Meghalaya) and started its first academic session in 2008-2009. The remaining six IIMs will be set up in Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan. The government has allocated Rs 4.51 billion as nonrecurring expenditure and Rs 1.18 billion as the recurring expenditure for the first phase in building the new IIMs. All the new IIMs are expected to start the academic session 2010-2011 from temporary campuses.

New Central Universities
The Central Universities bill to establish 12 new central universities and upgrade three universities was finally passed in February 2009. Initially Goa was also a part of the plan when 16 universities were planned. Later the Goa University did not take shape and was dropped. The state of Jammu and Kashmir was to have only one university. Now with a separate university planned for the Jammu region and Kashmir region, the plan is back to 16 universities.

Three State Universities in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand were converted immediately into Central Universities. Eleven new Central Universities came into existing in the first week of March, 2009 with the first vice chancellors (VCs) assuming their respective offices. The Central University of Himachal Pradesh got delayed as Dr R C Sobti, the current VC of Punjab University who was initially approached for assuming the VC’s post had declined the offer. Dr Furqan Qamar has since been appointed and this university is likely to start its first academic session in 2010-2011.

All new Central Universities, will get about 500 acres of land free of cost from the concerned state governments. The entire expense of these universities will be met by the central government through the UGC, which has so far released around Rs 1.55 billion for 14 universities. Though the permanent location of many of these universities is yet to be finalised, most of them have already started their academic activities from temporary campuses.

These universities are expected to promote high quality research and create courses that create employment within the state. They are also expected to design courses that suit the eco-system of the respective regions. They will invite faculty from overseas and work at alliances with foreign universities. The government wants the central universities to specialise in different courses and ensure that there are not many common courses among them. It wants these universities to become known as hubs for their specialised courses.The building design is also expected to get attention with a focus on building green campuses. Sibal has also suggested that these universities should look at conducting a Common Entrance Test for admission to enable common counseling.

Innovation Universities
The Xlth five year plan’s highlight was perhaps the 14 central universities that were to have world class standards. Over time they have been rechristened to innovation universities as the main focus of these universities will be to inculcate a spirit of innovation and research among students. These universities are still in the concept note stage, however their location has been decided. The government has decided to locate these in or near large cities so that they have the connectivity and infrastructure needed to meet world-class standards. The state governments are required to identify and provide land for these projects as well.

The highlight of these universities would be availability of huge funds, academic freedom and linkages with institutions from overseas. While the HRD ministry is considering upgrading some existing institutions to the innovation university status, it is also looking at ideas for new universities.

These universities will be built around different themes. Among the several ideas that have come up for these universities is a university dedicated to study and research in sustainable city development