This is in reference to the draft Higher education Commission of India (Repeal of University Grants Commission Act) Act 2018 and the subsequent comments made in various sections of Press about the proposed shift of the grant-giving functions away from the UGC as a part of the its proposed transformation.
The Ministry of HRD has clarified that no such final decision has yet been taken to shift the grant function to the Ministry even though the recommendation about separating the Regulator and grant-giving entity has been made by many an expert committee in the past, and is rooted in sound principles of Governance.
The Government is keen to ensure that the grant-giving process shall be purely merit-based, online, objective system that assures both transparency and efficiency with least human interface. Such IT systems are already operating in managing much bigger funding schemes like IMPRINT and RUSA flawlessly, and therefore can be put in place to manage the UGC schemes easily.
This is to assure that if there is a successor system to the current grant-giving system of UGC, the same will be operated in the most unbiased and impartial manner. The apprehensions in this regard are purely misplaced.
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NB/AKJ/YP/AK/Press Note
