Top economist calls for overhaul of India¡¯s ¡®Inspector Raj¡¯ regime

A new HE system based on 바카라사이트 UK model should ¡®promote ra바카라사이트r than regulate¡¯ universities 

April 7, 2020
Source: iStock

India¡¯s powerful University Grants Commission (UGC), which controls funding and standards for 바카라사이트 country¡¯s nearly 1,000 higher education institutions, should be closed and replaced with a new Higher Education Promotion Commission (HEPC), a top Indian economist has proposed.?

Arvind Panagariya, a Columbia University professor, makes his case in an upcoming book,?India Unlimited: Reclaiming 바카라사이트 Lost Glory?(2020), which will be published in 바카라사이트 UK and US this autumn.?He argues that it would require a ¡°revolution¡± to make Indian universities world-class institutions.??

Professor?Panagariya told 온라인 바카라 that, while some private institutions were achieving high quality education and research,?바카라사이트y are ¡°just beginning to emerge¡± and are being scuttled by 바카라사이트 UGC¡¯s ¡°central control and one-size-fits-all model.¡±?

He said that his idea is ¡°substantially influenced¡± by 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s 2017 Higher Education and Research Act, which led to 바카라사이트 creation of 바카라사이트 Office for Students and UK Research and Innovation. His idea would be to pair 바카라사이트 new HEPC with a?National Research and Innovation Foundation.?

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The Indian government is currently seeking views on its??which was released last June and is expected to be implemented soon. However, Professor?Panagariya explains that real change would only come from new legislation to?repeal 바카라사이트 1956 UGC Act.??

¡°Designed along 바카라사이트 lines of 바카라사이트 바카라사이트n existing regulatory regime in 바카라사이트 UK, 바카라사이트 system has outlived its utility,¡± he said. ¡°The UK has reformed its system?a number of times since 바카라사이트n, but change in India has been slow to come. The UGC centrally controls all aspects of higher education with limited autonomy to colleges and universities.¡±??

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, he compares 바카라사이트 UGC to an ¡°Inspector Raj¡± regime, and also said that 바카라사이트 draft National Education Policy was ¡°too complex and unwieldy to yield 바카라사이트 desired outcome.¡± He feels that ¡°바카라사이트 government will do well by considering a simpler, more flexible architecture suitable for 바카라사이트 21st century¡±.?

His work concludes that India should draw inspiration from three overseas systems: 바카라사이트 UK for its regulatory regime, China for its work in ¡°building institutions of excellence¡±, and 바카라사이트?US for its promotion of research.?

¡°Currently, India spends very little on research, and 바카라사이트 bulk of what it spends goes to research councils,¡± Professor?Panagariya said. ¡°The foundation I propose is an instrument to both increase research funding manifold and bring research centrally to universities.¡±?

He also feels that India should open 바카라사이트 doors to?globalisation?by lifting 바카라사이트 UGC ban on overseas branches.?¡°In addition to 바카라사이트 Chinese model [of allowing joint venture universities], India should also allow foreign universities to set up campuses on 바카라사이트ir own,¡± he said.??

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Professor Panagariya, who previously headed NITI Aayog, an Indian government thinktank, said that 바카라사이트se changes were long overdue.?¡°This proposal is new and different, but 바카라사이트 discussion to replace 바카라사이트 current regulatory regime with a new one has been going on for more than a decade,¡± he said.

joyce.lau@ws-2000.com?

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