INDIA: Grants commission opposes reforms

20 September 2009

Three months after the Yashpal Committee report and as the Indian government moves to create a National Commission for Higher Education and Research, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has said the Yashpal recommendations "do not appear to be in accordance with the thinking of the framers of our Constitution", reports Akshaya Mukul for The Times of India.

The UGC also said the Yashpal Committee "missed the historic opportunity to undertake a comprehensive review of the higher education system, and of the functioning of the UGC." UGC employees have been protesting against the creation of the National Commission, asking what will happen to them once the new body comes into being.

UGC comments sent to Human Resource Development ministry recently, and accessed by The Times of India, not only finds fault with the way the committee dealt with its terms of reference but also the methodology adopted, the concept of NCHER and the powers proposed to be given to it. Agreeing that higher education needs reform, UGC says: "Creation of a single regulatory authority by subsuming the existing regulatory bodies, as suggested by the committee, does not appear to be the only viable alternative."
Full report on The Times of India site

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