Academicians disagreement with the government’s intent to replace the University Grants Commission with the new body largely stems from the scope in the new Bill for political interference in higher education.
In the month of July, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) announced that it was introducing a Bill in Parliament to repeal the UGC Act and replace it with the Higher Education Commission of India Act 2018 (HECI). Deliberations over the draft Bill are still continuing.
The Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) has opposed the government’s decision to wind up UGC. DUTA says direct interference of government will increase if the HECI Bill is passed. This is because when UGC becomes HECI, it will surrender its power to regulate and provide grants to universities to MHRD.
According to the draft HECI Bill, HECI will solely oversee academic matters. MHRD will sanction and release the grants.
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