Eleventh Five Year Plan

Education 31of S&T base in the universities through appropriateHRD measures and building up of research capabilitiesof the academic sector and (ii) funding for undertakinginternationally competitive and front-rankingmajor research programmes. For this purpose, the existingScience and Engineering Research Councilmechanism of the DST would be restructured intoNSERB and a special program for rejuvenation ofresearch in universities would be initiated. Theproposed Board will address these issues and followglobal best practices.Reducing Wide Regional Disparities1.3.51 Southern States have successfully attractedcapital and students from all over the country.Government schemes and AICTE will proactivelyencourage establishment of higher (technical) institutionsin deficient States (Annexures 1.2.1 and 1.3.1).OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE (OSC)1.3.52 In pursuance of the 93rd amendment to theConstitution of India aiming to provide statutory reservationsto SCs, STs, and OBCs in Central EducationalInstitutions, the Central Educational Institutions(Reservation in Admission) Act has been enacted andhas been notified in January 2007. The OSC (MoilyCommittee), constituted in May 2006 recommendedan investment of Rs 17270 crore over a period of fiveyears for the Central Educational Institutions to increasetheir intake capacity by 54% so as to provide 27%reservation to OBCs without affecting the number ofgeneral seats. Of this, Rs 7035 crore will be non-recurringexpenditure, the bulk of which will be spread overyear 1, 2, and 3, whereas, the recurring expenditure willbe Rs 10235 crore spread over five years, increasingprogressively subject to the final order of the SupremeCourt. An Inter-Ministerial Monitoring Committeewill be constituted in the Planning Commission tooversee and review the progress. (See Annexure 1.3.2.)FEES IN HIGHER EDUCATION, SCHOLARSHIPS,FELLOWSHIPS, AND LOAN SCHEMES1.3.53 The national commitment ‘to ensure that nobodywould be deprived of higher education opportunitiesdue to lack of financial resources’ necessitatesa serious look at the issues of fees, scholarships, andloan schemes.1.3.54 At present, fees vary across universities, but generallythese have been kept very low, in many cases noteven covering 5% of the operating cost. The Centre andState Governments must either be able to subsidizeuniversity education massively or try to mobilize areasonable amount from those who can afford it by wayof fees that cover a reasonable part of the running cost.Since most university students come from the top 10%of the population by income levels, they would be ableto pay fees amounting up to 20% of the operating costof general university education. The fees for professionalcourses could be much higher. The fee levelsBox 1.3.4Faculty Augmentation and Development in Science and Technology• Substantial increase in the intake in Junior Research Fellowship (JRF);• Enhance research fellowship for PhD students if they are given additional responsibility to also take up teaching as lecturerand make eligible non-NET PhD scholars also for fellowship;• Increase the number of fellowships and the quantum of assistance for MTech students;• Make the teaching system attract and retain the best talent with better pay/perks and funded research. Performance-basedrapid career progression;• Increase industry–institution interface including provision for tenure jobs in industry for faculty;• Set aside a share of project funds as incentive payments for the researchers/fellows;• Selected top class institutions to undertake special programmes for best faculty development;• Infusion of knowledge capital in the Centres of Excellence through MoU;• Institutions to open up for international faculty, visiting programmes, and faculty exchange;• Recruitment policy of faculty reviewed for providing more flexibility in appointments, short-term contracts, assignments,and possibility of outsourcing select faculty that is in short supply;• A major expansion of faculty development programme.