Everything may seem quite hunky-dory between the HRD Ministry and Left-leaning academics but bureaucrats are nevertheless pointing out at every possible forum that higher education institutions would have to gradually learn to generate resources on their own.At the recent meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE), the ‘‘politically correct’’ but ‘‘economically incorrect’’ nominees chosen by Minister Arjun Singh hardly paid any attention to HRD secretary B.S. Baswan’s word of advice on ‘‘making people pay for higher education’’. Instead, quite a few CABE members got together and in their wishlist included the right to ‘‘resist every move attempting commodification of education’’.Now, at the forthcoming assembly of vice-chancellors of central universities to be hosted by Jamia Millia Islamia on Monday, Baswan may politely raise the issue again. To the HRD Ministry, it is a long-term plan but in the ‘‘euphoria of having brought back secularism’’, universities cannot continue to overlook the reality of having to raise money privately for higher education. The Rehman Committee’s recommendations were along these lines. And every subsequent Planning Commission meeting on the subject wanted greater state funding only in the elementary education sector. Vice-chancellor of the host university Professor Mushirul Hasan said personally, he is against withdrawal of state fiscal support. In fact, among other issues to be discussed is the pattern of Central funding to these universities. The University Grants Commission and the ministry’s higher education department are taking an active part in the symposium too.
