 "Image via Shutterstock")
The Centre's main think tank, the NITI Aayog, will come out with a road map to develop 20 world-class universities, on the lines of Princeton and Harvard.
The universities would be designed to feature on the lists of best universities in the world and emerge as the best-in-class research institutions.
An initial capital base of Rs 1,000 crore has been kept aside for the project, and this would be supplemented through donations and even market borrowings.
According to the draft plan, a separate Act, called the Institutes of World-Class Excellence Act, would be passed to govern these institutes. The Act could set the stage for the establishment of a governing council to manage these universities. To ensure the institutes ensure quality, the Act might stipulate a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation programme.
The UGC Act could be amended to give these universities separate autonomy, and a third option of non-legislative route could also be explored, senior officials said. The Centre could be empowered to include or and remove any institutes from the list.
"We will be ready with a road map for developing 20 WCIs in the country to enhance the quality of education in the country in the next three months," NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya said, after an internal discussion on finalisation of the regulatory framework for setting up 10 private and 10 public world-class institutions. "There will be more deliberations on the issue and Aayog will consult experts on the matter as it is a very complex issue. There are many regulatory bottlenecks. We need to remove those."
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had in his Budget speech announced a detailed scheme to set up world-class teaching and research institutions.
