Panel wants tougher norms for private universities

Committee formed to revisit UGC Act says these should not be allowed to take students for a ride

Private universities may soon have to legally vest all their movable and immovable properties in the name of the university; utilise their incomes and property only for their growth and development and maintain accounts in the name of the university (not in the name of the sponsoring body/trust) by following standards set by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and the ministry of human resource development.

These and more rules have found their way into the new regulations framed by an expert committee chaired by P N Tandon and co-chaired by M Anandakrishnan to revisit the UGC (Establishment of and Maintenance of Standards in Private Universities) Regulations, 2003.

M Anandakrishnan, former vice-chancellor of Anna University and chairman of Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur, told Business Standard the draft regulations would be uploaded on the UGC (University Grants Commission) website next month. "There are a number of instances in which promoters start universities and then dispose of these they please. For some private players, setting up universities has become a real estate business. For many others, it has become a profit-making venture. In the wake of such practices, there needs to be regulation," he said.

WINDS OF CHANGE

• Private universities may have to legally vest all movable and immovable properties in the name of the university
• Utilise the income and property of the university only for its growth
• Maintain accounts in the name of the university
• Follow accounting standards set by the ICAI and the MHRD
• Private university players upset with UGC not consulting them on the new regulations
• UGC committee says draft regulations would be uploaded next month on website for comments

Other members of the committee include Sarojini Thakur, chairperson, HP Private Educational Institutions; K Ramnarayan, vice-chancellor, Manipal Academy of Higher Education; Leena Srivastava, vice-chancellor, Teri University; Sunil Kumar, chief secretary, government of Chhattisgarh; and K Chandrasekhar Pillai, former director, Indian Law Institute.

"Private universities are using the education sector as a money-making opportunity. UGC does not want students and parents to be exploited. Therefore, it felt the need to revisit the regulations. It believes many private universities are not transparent," said a committee member.

Private entities, however, say they weren't consulted before the regulations were framed. "The process of framing these regulations has been initiated without consulting the universities. There is no representative of private universities in the committee working on these regulations. Therefore, it is requested member(s) of the Education Promotion Society of India (EPSI) be involved in this committee as representatives of private universities," G Viswanathan, president, founder and chancellor, VIT University, Vellore, and H Chaturvedi, director of Birla Institute of Management Technology, Greater Noida, and alternate president EPSI, said in a letter to UGC Chairman Ved Prakash (a copy of the letter is available with Business Standard).

Currently, India has about 150 private universities across 20 states. The committee formed to revisit the UGC (Establishment of and Maintenance of Standards in Private Universities) Regulations, 2003, has only two state representatives.

Private universities say according to the UGC Act, 1956, the commission can only govern and regulate universities receiving aid from the UGC; private/unaided universities are out of its domain.

One of the members of the committee says, "UGC has the right to maintain the standards of all universities in the country. Whoever says UGC can't do so should put up his/her protest online when the regulations are up for comments."

Private universities say they want UGC to be transparent in formulating the regulations and to consult all the stakeholders involved. "The UGC wants us to legally vest all movable and immovable properties in the name of the university. But how is this possible in a case in which the promoter has mortgaged the land for a loan from a bank? This can happen only when the loan is repaid. We want UGC to consider our views in this regard. Not all private entities in education are here for profits," said the director of a private business-school.

Other rules being incorporated include conditions for establishing private universities, infrastructure, academic departments and faculty, maintenance of standards and accreditation from National Assessment and Accreditation Council and the National Board of Accreditation.

Private education entities said as the Higher Education and Research Bill, 2011, which sought to subsume the UGC and the All India Council for Technical Education was already in the final stages of being passed. The issues being included in the new regulations were already covered under that Bill. As such, framing these regulations to include additional matters of universities under the control of UGC could be considered a covert attempt to undermine the supremacy of Parliament.