Mahendra Nath Pandey, Minister of State for Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry on Thursday in the Rajya Sabha stated that no Indian educational Institution is listed among the top 20 globally. This statement from the MoS came after the question on the quality of higher education in the country was raised in the upper house of the Parliament. Apart from stating that there is no institution among the global top 20, Mahendra Nath Pandey also communicated the steps that were being taken by the central government to increase the quality of education in India. In the statement he said, “In consonance with the provision of the University Grant Commission(UGC) (Establishment of and Maintenance of Standards in Private Universities) Regulations, 2003, the UGC has already conducted on the spot inspection of 159 out of 278 private universities to assess whether these are fulfilling the minimum criteria in terms of programmes, faculty, infrastructural facilities, financial viability, etc, as laid down from time to time by the UGC and other concerned statutory bodies or councils,” as quoted by India.com.
The minister’s statement about the quality of education in India was prepared on the basis of rankings by various global agencies. He said that the government is taking steps to make technical education of the country more effective. In order to do so, the Narendra Modi led-central government has set up norms and standards to regulate and ensure that quality education is being imparted to the students. Pandey said that after receiving approval for conducting courses and renewing the same in All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) approved institutions, the quality of education could be regulated.
Nath assured that the University Grants Commission is taking all the necessary steps and the Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) has been set up to improve the infrastructure of higher educational institutions. The initial capital base of HEFA stands at Rs 300 crore in order to increase the investment in this area. He further added that loans and bonds are being made available to institutions of higher education for improving infrastructure.