No proposal under MHA's consideration for creation of nodal agency: Nityanand Rai
Aug 02, 2022
New Delhi [India], August 2 : Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai on Tuesday informed the Lok Sabha that there is no proposal under consideration in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for the creation of a central nodal agency to regulate institutes and centres involved in the facilitation of admissions to schools, colleges and Universities both in India and abroad.
The Minister's written reply came in response to a question asked by Communist Party of India MP K Subbaraya.
Asked "whether it is a fact that the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) under the Ministry of Home Affairs has recommended the creation of a central nodal agency under the Ministry to regulate institutes and centres involved in the facilitation of admissions to schools, colleges and Universities both in India and abroad", Rai said, "No Sir".
"There is no such proposal under consideration in the Ministry," the Minister said.
The question was raised as the new National Education Policy (NEP) is paving the way for foreign universities to set up campuses in India.
The policy paves the way for the world's top 100 universities "facilitate" to operate in the country through a new law.
A major criticism of allowing foreign universities to operate in India at the time was that they would raise the cost of education through higher tuition fees and poaching faculty from public universities, and put it out of the reach of a large section of the population.
Besides opening up Indian higher education to foreign players, the new policy marks a significant shift in the format of undergraduate education with the reintroduction of the four-year multidisciplinary Bachelor's programme, with exit options.