Central/
Public
State Deemed Private Institutions
of National Importance Types of Universities
Source: Own Analysis
Figure 1.1-Types of Universities
19 1.5.1 Central University
Central universities are the ones which are established through an Act in Parliament and are funded by the Union Government. Older universities were established through individual acts like Delhi University Act. In the year 2009, the Central Government has set up a number of universities together through the Central Universities Act.
There are 20 central universities in India. The President of country is a visitor at all central universities. The University Grants Commission (UGC) is the bureau that provides financial backing for the maintenance and development of the central universities. Out of the 20 central universities, the Indira Gandhi Open University and Central Agricultural University Imphal are not funded by the UGC, these are assisted by the ministry of human resource development and the ministry of agriculture, respectively. The University of Delhi, Allahabad University, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) are among the central universities
1.5.2 State University
State universities are the ones which are established by the Act in the State Legislature and receive funding from the respective State Governments, and sometimes from the Central Government, usually from UGC. There are 215 state universities in the country. Three of the countrys oldest institutions of higher learning, University of Calcutta, University of Madras, and University of Mumbai are the state universities. State governments are accountable for establishment of state universities and provide plan grants for their development and non-plan grants for their maintenance.
1.5.3 Deemed-To-Be-A- University
Institutions of higher learning, which are not universities, are often in recognition of their high caliber of education granted the status of a university. Such institutions are known as deemed to be university, or deemed university. Both government and private universities can be deemed universities. Gandhi Institute of Technology and
20 Management and Symbiosis International University, Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha are examples of government and private deemed universities, respectively. Deemed university status allows greater autonomy in operations, syllabus, admission, and fees, than allowed by the above types of universities. Deemed universities are also qualified to receive funding from the UGC. Jurisdiction of deemed universities is pan- India and worldwide. For example, Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani has an offshore campus in Dubai. From the year 2009, no university was granted as deemed university status. Additionally, the Government of India announced that it is withdrawing deemed university status from 44 institutes in February 2010. The status of a deemed university is accorded by the UGC. Section 3 of the UGC Act, provides for the conferring of this status of autonomy granted to high performing institutes and departments of various universities in India. The status of Deemed university not only empower full independence in framing course work and syllabus of those institutes and research centres but also allows them to set their own guidelines for with respect to the admissions, fees structure and mode of instruction to the students.
As in other universities students are conferred degrees on completion of their programme. There are more than100 deemed universities in the country. National Institutes of Technology (formerly known as Regional Engineering Colleges), Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Symbiosis International Education Centre, Pune comprising Symbiosis Institute of Computer Studies and Research, Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Symbiosis Society‘s Law College, Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore are deemed universities.
1.5.4 Private University
Private universities are the ones which are established through an Act in State Legislatures. As of now, no private university has been established at the Centre through an Act in Parliament. The Private Universities Bill was introduced in the Parliament in year 1995 for regulating the entry and operation of private universities, but it received a strong opposition. Some states had contended that the bill was
21 unconstitutional and challenged its constitutionality. Since Entry 32 of the State List confers the power to incorporate and regulate universities to the states. Afterwards, the bill was withdrawn by the Central Government in year 2007. The private universities too, need to obtain recognition from the UGC. They do not have the power to affiliate colleges that are run by a different trust. For an institution to be given the status of a private university, the state legislature awarding the status has to pass an act by which the institution will receive the status of an university. Private universities also have to be recognized by the UGC so that the degrees awarded by them are of considerable value.
1.5.5 Institutes of National Importance:
An Institute of National Importance, in India is defined as the one which performs as a crucial player in developing highly skilled personnel within the specified region of the country or the state. Only few institutes make it to this chosen list and are usually supported by the Government of India or even any other international institutes to develop centers of excellence in research, academics, and other such elite schools of education. In India, all of the IITs, NITs, AIIMS, NIPERs, ISI and some other institutes as Institutes of National Importance. It is also proposed to add to the list IIMs, IISERs, IIESTs and the new AIIMS under PMSSY scheme of GOI once they are empowered by the Government of India by enacting an act in the Parliament. The admission to these institutes is through highly competitive examinations like the IIT- JEE/JMET/AIEEE/NIMCET etc. Institutes of National Importance are accorded power to grant degrees because of their strategic and economic importance for the country. The examples include institutes such as IITs, AIIMS‘ and NITs. These institutes have been established at both Central and State level.
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