Command and control

The Centre has invited a barrage of criticism, some of them valid, after placing in the public domain the Higher Education Commission of India (Repeal of University Grants Commission Act) Bill 2018. A fundamental feature of the proposed HECI, as opposed to the UGC, is that it will focus only on enforcement of standards and not disburse grants; the latter role will be vested with the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD). The rest of the draft Bill promises both “autonomy” and a resolve to enforce standards for teaching and research. It makes sense to divest the regulator of the role of providing funds. As NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant has observed in interactions with the financial press, the UGC has neither been able to crack down on substandard institutions nor utilise the funds allocated to it in the absence of norms on how funds should be distributed to universities. However, by saying that “the grant functions will be carried out by the HRD Ministry”, the draft Bill merely hints at a regime of direct governmental control, contrary to its promise of autonomy. The Centre should modify this proposal to vest the role of disbursing grants in an independent agency. The reduced role of academicians in the HECI, as against the UGC, and the direct involvement of bureaucrats too does not evoke confidence.

There can, however, be no denying that the UGC has failed in enforcing standards or acting as the independent body it was envisaged to be. Its revolving-door relationship with the HRD Ministry is only too well known. Under the UPA, the UGC agreed to the Centre’s proposal to have a four-year undergraduate programme, going against its own rules. It did a flip-flop with a change of government. Likewise, State governments of all hues have had no qualms in politicising key appointments in universities and colleges. Sadly, the HECI as an extension of the MHRD may end up legitimising all of this, while also raising apprehensions of ideological control. The autonomy of universities in framing curricula should not be tampered with.

Higher education needs both autonomy — which has led to the IITs, IISc and IIMs emerging as centres of repute — and accountability in the right measure. A present system of according ‘graded autonomy’, depending on independent rankings and assessments, should be continued, without the MHRD superimposing its own views. An independent regulator, manned by individuals of probity and academic excellence, could make a difference. The teaching community must lift its levels of performance. As for ensuring equitable access, a shift away from purely caste-based quotas to a more nuanced set of metrics that incorporate income, gender and urban-rural gaps is called for. Higher education flourishes in a climate of free and democratic exchange of ideas. Reforms in higher education are finally about creating the right ambience — of liberalism, academic rigour, universal access and, above all, accountability.

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