Cabinet nods to 13 new central universities

Why in news?

• Cabinet approved an expenditure of Rs 3,639.32 crore to set up 13 new Central Universities.
• Each in Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu, and two universities in Jammu & Kashmir (Two). The universities will be set up under the Central Universities Act, 2009.
• The funds will be used to create the ‘necessary infrastructure for the completion of the campuses’, states the official release.
• The universities will be set-up within a period of 36 months.
• The Cabinet has also given ex-post facto approval for an amount of Rs 1,474.65 crore, being the amount spent over and above the earlier Cabinet approval of Rs.3000 crore for these Central Universities.
• This would increase access to higher education and set exemplary standards for other Universities to emulate.
• It will also help in minimising the regional imbalances in educational facilities.

Central Universities in India: –

• Central universities or union universities in India are established by an Act of Parliament and are under the purview of the Department of Higher Education in the Union Human Resource Development Ministry.
• In general, universities in India are recognised by the University Grants Commission (UGC), which draws its power from the University Grants Commission Act, 1956.
• In addition, 15 Professional Councils are established, controlling different aspects of accreditation and coordination.

Central universities, in addition, are covered by the Central Universities Act, 2009, which regulates their purpose, powers, governance etc., and established 12 new universities.

• The list of central universities published by the UGC lists 49 central universities, as of 12 December 2018, nine of which are directly funded by the Government of India and are not under the purview of the UGC.
• University of Allahabad, oldest among all central universities in India set up in 1887.

 Other types of universities controlled by the UGC include:

• State universities are run by the state government of each of the states and territories of India, and are usually established by a local legislative assembly act.
• Deemed university, or “Deemed-to-be-University”, is a status of autonomy granted by the Department of Higher Education on the advice of the UGC, under Section 3 of UGC Act, 1956.
• Private universities are approved by the UGC. They can grant degrees but they are not allowed to have off-campus affiliated colleges.

(Education, Social sector)(Source: – the asianage)