Each state government must set up a higher education council and create agencies for accrediting higher educational institutions under them in order to receive funds under the proposed Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA), a flagship scheme of the Centre, likely to be launched this year.
Filling of faculty vacancies in state universities and academic as well as institutional governance reforms are other prerequisites to avail the benefits of the proposed scheme.
The Centre will provide seed money to the states to equip themselves, according to the draft of the scheme prepared by the Human Resource Development Ministry.
The autonomous state education councils will be responsible for planned and coordinated development of higher education in the region and for fostering the sharing of resources among universities. Each council will comprise 12 to 25 members. An eminent academician or intellectual will be appointed to head the council.
The RUSA seeks to provide financial assistance to state governments to enable them improve the access and quality of higher educational institutions. It proposes to provide funds in the (Centre-State) ratio of 65:35.
The ratio of funding will be 90:10 for the North-Eastern states and Jammu and Kashmir. For other special category states, including Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the ratio will be 75:25.
“Funding will be available to private and government-aided institutions also, subject to their meeting certain pre-conditions for permitted activities based on laid down norms and parameters,” a HRD Ministry official said.
The implementation of the scheme will be spread over two Five Year Plan periods, starting with 12th Plan. The scheme aims at covering 316 public universities and 13,024 colleges across the country, he added
The funding to states will be on the basis of “critical appraisal” of their plans for higher education, including their strategy to address issues of equity, access and excellence in higher education.
“All funding under the RUSA would be norm-based and future grants would be outcome dependent. Certain academic, administrative and governance reforms will be a precondition for receiving funding under RUSA,” the HRD Ministry official said.
A RUSA Mission Authority will be set up at the Centre to monitor the scheme, delineate overall policy and planning, and providing guidance and direction to maximise gains. The HRD Minister will be the chairman of the Authority, with chairpersons of UGC and AICTE as members, among others.