The Union Minister for Human Resource Development Shri Prakash Javadekar today addressed the National Workshop on Graded Autonomy for Vice Chancellors of Universities at New Delhi. While addressing the workshop Shri Javadekar said that “Autonomy is crucial for the Higher Educational Institutions to achieve excellence and the Government is committed to ensure autonomy of our Universities”. The workshop was jointly organized by Ministry of Human Resource Development(MHRD) and University Grants Commission (UGC) with a view to provide a platform to Vice-Chancellors from around 63universities which have been categorized as Category I and Category II Institutions under UGC Regulations on Graded Autonomy. The senior officers of MHRD,UGC and select State governments were also present on this occasion, besides participants from 55 HEIs.Shri Javadekar said that UGC regulations on graded autonomy is a major reform and the universities should fruitfully utilise this opportunity. Terming the 63 graded universities as “cream of the cream”, he further said that the Universities need to maintain high academic standards in order to sustain their autonomy. Citing the example of American Universities, he said that the best universities attract the best talent from around the world and thereby make important contribution to the development of the country.
Adetailed presentation was made by Prof D P Singh, Chairman, UGC on graded autonomy, highlighting the various aspects of UGC Regulations on Graded Autonomy which provide an enabling framework to Universities for adopting a decentralized management culture, ensuring freedom to HEIs todecide academic issues. He also outlined the expectations from these Universities to achieve the Quality Mandate of UGC. Shri R Subramanyam, Secretary, Higher Education, MHRD provided significant inputs to enable universities for promoting quality education.Presentations were made by Vice Chancellors of Banaras Hindu University, Guru Nanak Dev University, Alagappa University, BITS Pilani, Symbiosis International , Institute of Chemical Technology and O P Jindal Global University highlighting their roadmap for achieving the objectives of graded autonomy.During the open interactive session, the Vice Chancellors expressed their concerns and shared their experiences while implementing the Autonomy Regulations. The Secretary, Higher Education, MHRD Shri R Subramanyam and other officers of MHRD and UGC interacted with the Vice Chancellors and assured them that their concerns shall be appropriately addressed.