Should there be a single legislation to govern all the central universities?

Should there be a single legislation to govern all the central universities?

Introduction

The proposal of A M Pathan Committee to channelize the Universities last year, is expected to be re-considered by the HRD Minister. The committee emphasized on having a single legislator body which could have the power to control all the Central Universities throughout the country. the report and the draft bill was criticized last year within the HRD Ministry then, complaining that to be a tedious process and a compromise on the autonomy of the existing system of functioning. HRD Minister Smriti Irani is planning a meeting with the VCs of 39 Universities. She has had similar interactions with the directors of IITs and IIMs as well in order to have greater synergy between the school and higher education. A M Pathan’s committee report could be a parallel layout of the efforts being made by our HRD Minister. Is it really worth to have a single legislation to govern all the Central Universities?

Yes

- Single governing body could provide an efficient line up of all the universities in the country. This could help in having a uniform platform for the universities.

- Clubbing the universities under one head could help in re-structuring the fee structure which could be beneficial for the talented individual from the poor strata.

- Single authority can help the students to channelize the selection criteria instead of running from pillar to post for the admission and counselling procedures.

- Especially for the aspirants going for the specialised professional courses for which they need to appear for the competitive exams, such a body could be beneficial enough. Already streamlining the exams through the common entrance test has given a great sigh of relief to the students. Streamlining the governing body will eradicate further error possibilities during the selection and admission criteria.

- The value of some Universities may get a chance to rise up and prove themselves. They can have the opportunity to get the focus on their infrastructural requirements which could attract better performing students within their premises.

No

- As correctly identified by the previous HRD Ministry, the process is tedious and require great efforts to get all the Universities along a single platform.

- Some Universities have a great repute in terms of their performance and deliverables. The big shots / companies absorb the aspirants with a good package per year. Streamlining on a single track will make these universities lose their charm and the potential students could not be picked up as the cherry on the cake.

- There are many universities which are the autonomous bodies and enjoy a special status. This will be lost with the single governing body on the top.

- The universities will still continue to have the ‘Management Seats’ and the ‘NRI reservation’. As far as these reservations are sticking along, the talented aspirants will keep losing their rights.

- The private universities that have mushroomed across the country are difficult to be brought under this legislative body, as they have their own rules and regulations.

Conclusion

Streamlining the Universities would genuinely a good step in the favour of talented and performing students. Though the management seats and reservations for the rich would prevail, still the students would not be running across the country to have their career set-up. The single governing unit can have an effective control and can focus on the development of some less performing Universities to raise their standard. This could also help in checking the unfair play at every step of the selection criteria and admission procedure. Thus, with the students’ viewpoint, it is apt to have a single legislation to govern all the Central Universities.