The Government constituted a Committee to evolve a comprehensive policy on the issue of autonomy of Higher Educational Institutions. The Terms of Reference of the Committee are as under:-
(i) To review the state of autonomy of Central Educational Institutions (CEIs) such as Central Universities, IITs and IIMs vis-à-vis bodies like the UGC as well as the Central Government.
(ii) To recommend mechanism for norm-based funding of CEIs for development and maintenance with an aim to enhancing financial autonomy of the institutions.
(iii) To examine the diffusion of autonomy within the CEIs and to suggest measures by which institutional autonomy can percolate to governance structures within the university and to the teacher.
(iv) To review and recommend measures on the present governance structures of the CEIs and to provide for substantive and procedural autonomy to them vis-à-vis the UGC and other Central Regulatory Bodies and the Central Government.
(v) To recommend measures for fostering accountability of CEIs as public institutions.
(vi) Any other issue relevant to the promotion of autonomy of Central Educational Institutions in a manner to achieve the objectives of the universities as stated in their respective statues and in the light of the recommendations of the Committee on Renovation and Rejuvenation of Higher Education (Yashpal Committee) and the National Knowledge Commission (NKC).
The Committee held consultations with stakeholders such as Directors of Indian Institutes of Management, Directors of Indian Institutes of Technology and Vice Chancellors of Central Universities before finalizing its report and submitting the same to the Ministry. The Ministry have constituted a Task Force to formulate the modalities for implementation of the recommendations of Committee.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Human Resource Development Dr. D. Purandeswari, in a written reply to a question, in the Lok Sabha today.
