Higher Education Commission Of India To Replace UGC: Sanjay Shamrao Dhotre, MoS For HRD

While on the one hand there are many reforms that are taking place, the technology has opened and paved a way leading for us to the world of impossibilities. And quality education is the basis for any evolution in technology.  

The second BW Businessworld Engineering Excellence Conclave was graced with the presence of Sanjay Shamrao Dhotre, Minister of State for Human Resource Development, Govt. Of India as the chief guest at the event.  

While addressing the audience, the minister informed about the initiatives taken up the government on improving the quality of education and promoting the entrepreneurship qualities among the students.  

On how the government is improving the quality of education in the rural areas, Dhotre said, “Our Ministry of HRD has introduced ‘Unnat Bharat Abhiyan’ aiming to link the Higher Education Institutions with villages, so that these institutions can contribute towards the economic and social betterment of these village communities using their knowledge base. The scheme started with 750 institutions in 2017-18". 

The minister at the event also informed about the government’s plan to replace UGC by creating a Higher Education Commission. Dhotre said, “The Centre has decided to establish a Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) in the place of the University Grants Commission (UGC) to improve academic standards. The new Higher Education Commission of India shall focus solely on academic matters. Monetary grants would be the purview of the ministry.”  

Informing the audience on the issue of job-crisis, Dhotre said, “A group of central ministries has started working on how to create new jobs or an environment that will spur employment generation. In the first week of the NDA’s second term in office, at least four ministries, HRD, MSME, skill development and entrepreneurship, and food processing have started reviewing their efforts on job creation”.