What's in a Name? UGC vs HECI

Modi government is bringing in significant changes as the Lok Sabha Elections are approaching and it has brought forward another rabbit from the hat in the form of Higher Education Commission of India ("HECI"). HECI is sought to replace the University Grants Commission ("UGC") as soon as the Higher Education Commission (Repeal of University Grants Commission Act) Bill 2018 gets passed in the Parliament. 

Just a Name Change

The present government is very inclined to changing names of different institutions. William Shakespeare once said, "What's in a name?" but nobody seems to understand its significance these days. The government changed Planning Commission to NITI Aayog, Sports Authority of India to Sports India and now this. HECI is merely a change in the name of UGC so as to confer more powers on the government concerning higher educational institutions.  The government is set to revamp a well-established institution just for gaining monetary control over the higher educational institutions.

Modifications

Funding: The institution of HECI will shortchange all the funding power which was earlier vested with the UGC and give it to the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD). Earlier, UGC was to decide and allocate all the funds that were to be needed for the development and betterment in the standards of all the educational institutions under Sec. 12(b) of the UGC Act. With the establishment of HECI, MHRD will have the control over the funding of the institutions. The educational institutions would now turn into government departments receiving funds according to the whims and fancies of the government. There is not even a single provision regarding the funding of the institutions in the present draft act.

Composition:  Under the draft act, the constitution of the commission will be more bureaucratic-heavy and not heavier on the side of educational professionals. The Chairman, Vice-Chairman and other twelve members shall be selected by a Search-cum-Selection-committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary who will be the chairperson of the committee as explained under Sec 3(6) of the Bill. Also, the crucial clause in Sec. 5(2) of the UGC Act that the Chairman shall not be an officer of the Central or state government has been conveniently removed from the present draft act. 

These are the few significant modifications that have been made in the draft Act. It is clear from the draft that the transition from UGC to the HECI is merely a political tool to gain more power in the funding department so as to gulp more and more money and disburse lesser and lesser money for development. It is merely a propaganda before the upcoming elections in 2019 so as to appease the public. In the Times of India dated July 8, 2018, it was stated that MHRD has established a National Testing Agency (NTA) to conduct examinations for NEET and JEE twice in a year. The populist policies like these have been very effective in being able to garner votes for BJP till now. I hope Indians don't get duped by populist projects like HECI. 

Read the Higher Education Commission (Repeal of University Grants Commission Act) Bill, 2018 by clicking on the bill. 

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