REPORT NO. 302 PARLIAMENT OF INDIA RAJYA SABHA DEPARTMENT-RELATED PARLIAMENTARY STANDING COMMITTEE ON HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT THREE HUNDRED AND SECOND REPORT Demands for Grants 2018-19 (Demand No. 58) of the Department of Higher Education (Ministry of Human Resource Development) (Presented to the Rajya Sabha on 8th March, 2018) (Laid on the Table of Lok Sabha on 8th March, 2018) Rajya Sabha Secretariat, New Delhi March, 2018/Phalguna, 1939 (Saka) Hindi version of this publication is also available PARLIAMENT OF INDIA RAJYA SABHA DEPARTMENT-RELATED PARLIAMENTARY STANDING COMMITTEE ON HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT THREE HUNDRED AND SECOND REPORT Demands for Grants 2018-19 (Demand No. 58) of the Department of Higher Education (Ministry of Human Resource Development) (Presented to the Rajya Sabha on 8th March, 2018) (Laid on the Table of Lok Sabha on 8th March, 2018) Rajya Sabha Secretariat, New Delhi March, 2018/Phalguna, 1939 (Saka) C O N T E N T S PAGES 1. COMPOSITION OF THE COMMITTEE …........................................................... (i)-(ii) 2. INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................ (iii) 3. ACRONYMS ……….......…............................................................ (iv) 4. REPORT.........................................................................................…............................ 5. *OBSERVATIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE - AT A GLANCE ... 6. *MINUTES.............................................................................................. ................ COMPOSITION OF THE COMMITTEE (Constituted w.e.f. 1st September, 2017) 1. Dr. Satyanarayan Jatiya Chairman RAJYA SABHA 2. Shri Partap Singh Bajwa 3. Shrimati Vandana Chavan 4. Prof. Jogen Chowdhury 5. Prof. M.V. Rajeev Gowda 6. Shri Anubhav Mohanty 7. Shri Vishambhar Prasad Nishad 8. Dr. Sasikala Pushpa 9. Dr. Vinay P. Sahasrabuddhe 10. Shri Gopal Narayan Singh LOK SABHA 11. Shrimati Santosh Ahlawat 12. Shri Bijoy Chandra Barman 13. Shri Nihal Chand 14. Shrimati Bhawana Gawali (Patil) 15. Shri Faggan Singh Singh Kulaste 16. Shrimati Geetha Kothapalli 17. Prof. Chintamani Malviya 18. Shri Bhairon Prasad Mishra 19. Shri Ramachandran Mullappally 20. Shrimati Neelam Sonker 21. Shri Hari Om Pandey 22. Dr. Bhagirath Prasad 23. Shri N.K. Premachandran 24. Shri K.N. Ramachandran 25. Shri M.I. Shanavas 26. Dr. Nepal Singh 27. Dr. Prabhas Kumar Singh 28. Shri Satyapal Singh 29. Shri Sumedhanand Saraswati 30. Shri P.R. Sundaram 31. Shrimati P.K. Sreemathi Teacher (i) SECRETARIAT Shri K.P. Singh, Joint Secretary Shri Rajiva Srivastava, Director Shri Vinay Shankar Singh, Additional Director Shri Arun Kumar, Deputy Secretary Smt. Himanshi Arya, Under Secretary Shri K.Sudhir Kumar, Research Officer Shri Mohit Misra, Committee Officer (ii) INTRODUCTION I, the Chairman of the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resource Development, having been authorised by the Committee to present the Report on its behalf, do hereby present this Three Hundred and second Report of the Committee on the Demands for Grants (Demand No. 58) of the Department of Higher Education for the year 2018-19. 2. The Committee considered the various documents and relevant papers received from the Department of Higher Education and also heard the Secretary and other Officials of the Department on the said Demands for Grants in its meeting held on 26th February, 2018. Besides, the Committee, while making its observations/recommendations, has also relied upon the following:- (i) Detailed Demands for Grants of the Department of Higher Education for the year 2018-19; (ii) Detailed Explanatory Notes on the Demands for Grants (2018-19) received from the Ministry and the agencies/attached offices of the Department of Higher Education; (iii) Annual Report of the ministry for the year 2017-18 and the latest available Annual Reports of the agencies/attached offices of the Department of Higher Education; (iv) Written replies furnished by the Department of Higher Education to the Questionnaires sent to it by the Secretariat; and (v) Written clarifications to the points/issues raised by Members in the meetings of the Committee. 3. The Committee wishes to express its thanks to the Secretary and the officers of Department of Higher Education for appearing before the Committee and furnishing the requisite information in connection with the examination of Demands for Grants of the Department. 4. For the facility of reference and convenience, the observations and recommendations of the Committee have been printed in bold letters in the body of the Report. 5. The Committee considered the Draft Report and adopted the same in its meeting held on the 7th March, 2018. NEW DELHI DR. SATYANARAYAN JATIYA March 7, 2018 Chairman Phalguna 16, 1939 (Saka) Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resource Development (iii) ACRONYMS 1. AICTE : All India Council for Technical Education 2. CBES: Choice Based Credit System 3. CEC: Consortium of Educational Communications 4. EOC: Equal Opportunity Cells 5. GER: Gross Enrolment Ratio 6. ICT: Information and Communication Technology 7. GIAN: Global Initiative of Academic networks 8. HEFA: Higher Education Financing Agency 9. IIIT: Indian Institute of Information Technology 10. IIM : Indian Institute of Management 11. IISER: Indian Institute of Science Education and Research 12. IIT: Indian Institute of Technology 13. MOOCS: Massive Online Open Courses 14. NIT: National Institute of Technology 15. NMEICT: National Mission On Education Through ICT 16. PMMMNT: Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya National Mission on Teachers and Teaching 17. RUSA: Rashtriya Ucchatar Shiksha Abhiyan 18. SWAYAM: Study Webs Of Active-Learning For Young Aspiring Minds 19. UGC: University Grants Commission (iv) REPORT I. INTRODUCTION 1.1 The mission of the Department of Higher Education is to provide greater opportunities of access to higher education with equity to all the eligible persons and in particular to the vulnerable sections, improve and expand education in all sectors. The Department's role also includes the policy formulation, implementation, knowledge management, research and innovation, co- ordination with stakeholders and training and capacity building in higher education sector. 1.2 The Department's function also include expanding access by supporting existing institutions, establishing new institutions, skill development so as to reap the benefits of demographic advantage of the country, engage with State Governments, civil society and international community for furthering knowledge, language and culture and also encourage institutions to expand frontiers of knowledge. II BUDGETARY ALLOCATION 2.1 The Secretary in his presentation before the Committee on 26th February, 2018 stated that the Department of Higher Education sought an allocation of Rs 63753.27 crore for 2018-19, but was given an allocation of Rs 35010.29 crore. The sector /activity-wise projected demand vis-a-vis actual allocation for the FY 2018-19 is as under:- (Rs. in crore) Name of Projected Provided in BE 2018- Activity/Institutions demand 19 UGC 6098 4723 AICTE 850 485 Central Universities 9538 6398 IITS 11467 5613 New IITs 2347 338 IIMs 1524 828 NITs 5037 3019 2.2. The Department vide its detailed explanatory note on DFGs 2018-19 informed the Committee that the overall increase in BE 2018-19 w.r.t. to RE 2017-18 is of Rs. 147.83 crore which is an increase of 5.04% over BE 2017-18 (Rs. 33,329 crore) and an increase of 0.425% over RE 2017-18 (Rs. 34,862 crore). The budgetary allocations at BE stage under the Demand as a whole, over the last three years and the provision made for the financial year 2018-19 are as shown below:- (Rs. in crore) Financial Year Budgetary Allocation % increase at BE Stage 2015-16 26855.26 -- 2016-17 28840.00 7.4% 2017-18 333.29.70 15.6% 2018-19 35010.29 5.04% 2.3 The Department further in its presentation submitted the actual expenditure for the last 3 years are as given under:- (Rs. in crore) Financial BE % RE % Actual % year increase/decreas increase Expenditure increase/decreas e e 2015-16 26855.26 2.90% 25699.00 8.43% 25542.26 10.24% 2016-17 28840.00 7.39% 29703.00 15.58% 29026.47 13.64% 2017-18 33329.70 15.57% 34862.46 17.37% 23884.24 -17.71% 2018-19 35010.29 5.04% -- -- -- -- 2.4 While giving presentation before the Committee, the Secretary, Higher Education apprised that the IITs have been allocated Rs 6076 crore in 2018-19 against Rs 7856 crore in 2017-18 which is a decrease of 22.6%; whereas, the IIMs have been allocated Rs. 1036 crore in 2018-19 against last year Rs. 1030 in 2017-18 which a marginal increase of Rs. 6 crore. The regulatory bodies, UGC and AICTE together have been allocated Rs. 5267.75 crore as compared to last year's Rs. 5237 crore which is an increase of 0.59% only. The Central Universities have been allocated Rs. 6455 crore in 2018-19 against last year's Rs. 6512 crores which is a decrease of 0.95%. 2.5 The Committee finds that there is a huge gap between the projected demands and actual allocations made for the Department. Moreover, this reduced allocation of funds do not match with the objectives of expansion and growth of Higher Education Sector in the country and this would also defeat the endeavor to bring excellence in Higher Education. The Committee views that the allocation needs to be enhanced. 2.6 Further as regards the widening of gap between the projected demand and outlay for the FY 2018-19 the Committee conceives that Department should reconsider/review its overall mechanism right from making the proposed demand till the final expenditure is incurred and also assess the impact thereof in so far as the implementation of various schemes is concerned. This would be helpful in making the budget more realistic and making its presence felt on the plan outlay to be formulated for the Department. 2.7 The Committee notes that the allocation for Central Universities is inadequate as compared to their infrastructure, faculty and number of students enrolled. The Committee further notes that Central Universities have a larger number of students enrolled in them as compared to the technical and management institute.