Opinion If these are universities

Under Section 22(1) of the UGC Act,the “right of conferring or granting degrees shall be exercised only by a university established or incorporated by or under a Central act,a provincial act or a state act or an institution deemed to be a university under Section 3 or an institution specially empowered by an act of Parliament to confer or grant degrees.” Section 2 of the same clause further notes that “no person or authority shall confer,or grant,or hold himself or itself out as entitled to confer or grant,any degree”,except as provided under Section 22(1),referred to above. As per the UGC Act,therefore,there is no possibility of any degree granted by the branch campus of a foreign university established under Section 25 of the Companies Act. The escape route could be the interpretation that the foreign degree will not be recognised in India. It is only through the equivalence granted by the Association of Indian Universities that holders of foreign degrees conferred by foreign universities can pursue higher degrees or apply for jobs in India on par with Indian-degree holders. However,this is also implausible,as no authority can confer a degree except a university,as covered under Section 22(1). Thus,the only way the branch campus of a foreign university could confer a degree would be through the legislative route,either via an independent act or a modification in the UGC Act.

It should also be noted that the new Companies Act does not enlarge the scope of Section 25 by allowing the entry of foreign universities. Hence,any reference to this act facilitating the entry of foreign universities is a misrepresentation. The new act does provide scope for corporate social responsibility by promoting education,which is a separate issue.

It is common knowledge that,in the past,private universities have followed the legislative route under state legislation because of Section 22(1). Why could private universities not be established under Section 25 of the Companies Act? The reason is that even if such a university is established under Section 25,the UGC Act will prohibit it from conferring a degree unless authorised by Parliament. That’s why,a foreign university’s branch campus cannot confer a degree unless authorised by Parliament. Under the UGC Act,it is,however,possible for a deemed university,established under Section 25,to confer a degree. Therefore,the only way the branch campus of a foreign university could confer a degree would be by declaring it a deemed university.

Earlier discussions on the entry of foreign universities had considered the deemed university route,which was later given up. It seems that,as a matter of policy,the HRD ministry is opposed to the idea of promoting deemed universities. Given this,it is unlikely that a branch campus of a foreign university can be established in India with degree-granting powers,unless an amendment to the UGC Act is proposed.

What about the moral issues? How just is it to devise a method to ensure the entry of foreign universities when Parliament has not passed the pending bill to that effect? Is this not an important question to be considered by Parliament? Consider the reports of the Yashpal committee and the National Knowledge Commission (NKC) on the entry of foreign universities in India. The Yashpal committee was sceptical of the idea of the foreign university and favours universities among the top 200 in the world only on the condition that they must have the features of a university as suggested in the report,confer an Indian degree,and be subject to the same rules as any Indian university. The NKC also favours the entry of foreign universities to promote competition after ensuring a level playing field for foreign and domestic institutions. The level playing field argument implies that the government should raise standards of Indian universities to compete in the global ranking before permitting foreign universities of global ranking to enter the Indian market.

The writer is professor and head,Department of Higher and Professional Education,National University of Educational Planning and Administration,New Delhi.