Rashtriaya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan is going to cost Rs 98,983 crore over the 12th and 13th Plan

Updated on: Thursday, May 02, 2013

The HRD ministry has sought the Expenditure Finance Committee's clearance for its mammoth Rashtriaya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) that is going to cost Rs 98,983 crore over the 12th and 13th Plan.

RUSA, to be launched in mission mode, aims to take the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education to 32% by 2022-23. The current GER is estimated to be around 20%. In its proposal, the ministry has said the overall growth in GER hinges on the quality of 286 state universities and thousands of colleges. But funding of these institutions by state governments is abysmally low. For instance, the average spending by state government on higher education is 0.5% of Gross State Domestic Product (GDSP). In case of states like Maharashtra and Jharkhand it is as low as 0.14% of GSDP. Out of 286 state universities, 104 do not receive any funding from the UGC and only 6,787 colleges out of 35,539 central/state/private colleges get central funding. Even the rest who get the central fund it is not substantive.

RUSA proposes to fill this gap. In the process it would subsume two existing centrally-sponsored schemes, namely the plan to set up a model degree college in 374 educationally-backward districts and incentive to state government or setting up new institutions and expanding existing institutions. Funding scheme for RUSA would be in the ratio of 90:10 between the Centre and north-eastern states and J&K. In case of special category states like Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh funding would be in the ratio of 75:25 and for rest of the country it would be in the ratio of 65:35.

RUSA funds would be given to states to set up new universities, upgrade of existing autonomous colleges, conversion of colleges to cluster universities, infrastructure development, faculty recruitment, equity initiatives, polytechnics, research universities and for equity initiatives. RUSA lays down certain prerequisites for the states to partake of RUSA fund. This includes having a state higher education council, a perspective plan, removal of ban on faculty recruitment and governance and administrative reforms at state level. Institutions are expected to undertake examination and affiliation reforms, encourage inter-disciplinary learning, commitment to research and adherence to requirements of regulatory agencies.

Rashtriaya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan is going to cost Rs 98,983 crore over the 12th and 13th Plan

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