Finance panel's nod to RUSA

A Rs 1 lakh crore programme seeking to increase Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education sector to 30 per cent by 2022 has been cleared by the Expenditure Finance Committee. The main component of the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) programme, to be spread over the 12th and 13th Plan Periods, is to set up new universities and upgrade existing autonomous colleges to universities.

The other attempt to take up the GER from the existing 18 per cent to 30 per cent will be to convert colleges to cluster universities and set up new model colleges. The strategy also includes converting existing degree colleges to model colleges.

Sources in the HRD Ministry said the proposal will now be sent to the Cabinet for approval.

The project will be implemented as a centrally-sponsored scheme with a proposal to set eligibility criteria for states to achieve a high and sustained impact of the project through monitoring and evaluation. The primary responsibility of monitoring will lie with the institution themselves, while the state governments and the Centre through the project appraisal board will monitor the project annually.

Funding by the Centre will be up to 90 per cent and it will be available to even private institutions based on certain norms.

The central funding would be routed through the State Council of Higher Education as against the direct funding by the Centre and UGC to educational institutions of higher education.