Think it through

Creating world-class universities requires more than just money

On the occasion of Patna University’s centenary celebrations last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a corpus of Rs 10,000 crore for 20 institutions of excellence in higher education — 10 each in the public and private space — over the next five years. Such institutions will be given greater autonomy to decide on their affairs, as has been done in the case of the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs). Mr Modi said measures like granting central status to universities were a thing of the past. While this may have disappointed the Patna University students who were expecting such a