Page 56 - EW August 2025

Cover Story

first foreign university with a physical tor Dr. Surappa has been diplomatic.
campus in India. Earlier in a scathing op-ed essay in
11 Saal also takes credit for the the Chennai-based daily, The Hindu
number of IITs increasing from 16 (May 14) co-authored by him, he de-
in 2014-15 to 23 in 2024-25; IIMs scribed NEP 2020 as a “dead fish in
from 13 to 21; AIIMs from seven to water” adding that “NEP is outdated
20; establishment of IIT campuses in and financially unviable in the India
Abu Dhabi and Zanzibar (Tanzania). of 2025”.
Moreover, the document says that In- Although NEP 2020 contains sev-
dia’s rank in the Global Innovations eral constructive suggestions, includ-
Index has improved from #76 in 2014 ing longer duration multidisciplinary
to 39 in 2024; the number of Indian collegiate education with flexible entry
universities in the QS World Rankings and re-entry provisions, high impor-
has increased from 13 in 2014 to 54 in tance accorded to university research
2025-26, and that the government has and innovation and deeper acade-
promoted a National Forensic Scienc- my-industry cooperation, there’s an
es University, sui generis worldwide. Surappa: full autonomy proponent emerging consensus that the elaborate
Ex facie, this is an impressive re- government-dominated regulatory
cord. However, orderly promotion and rienced academics are becoming in- super-structure it mandates, needs to
dissemination of globally competitive creasingly disillusioned with the man- be ignored.
higher education requires attention to dates of the policy. According to Dr. Micro-management of HEIs by
detail beyond declarations of intent. Mirle Surappa Founder-Director of Central and state government edu-
Answering a question in Parliament IIT-Ropar, former Vice Chancellor of cracies has been tried for seven de-
two years ago, Union education min- Anna University, Chennai and Dean cades and has failed. None of India’s
ister Dharmendra Pradhan admitted of Academics at the top-ranked In- 1,338 universities, some of 150 years
that 40 percent of teaching posts in dian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, vintage, has innovated a global game-
IITs, 31 percent in IIMs and 30 per- establishment of a plethora of regula- changer product, service or disrup-
cent in Central universities were va- tory committees to supervise HEIs is tive technology of the import of Meta,
cant. Nor has the situation improved “unwarranted back-seat driving”. Google, Internet or artificial intelli-
since then. According to a 2025 Par- NEP 2020 mandates too many gence, even the motorcar or airplane.
liamentary Committee on education “regulators and regulations for HEIs Therefore, clearly this government
report, of 18,490 sanctioned posts in at a time when they need to be given control-and-command model needs
IITs, NITs, IIMs, and Central univer- full autonomy. It decrees too much to be jettisoned in favour of autono-
sities, 5,418 (29 percent) are unfilled. interference by government which mous HEIs managed and driven by
Alarmingly, 56 percent of professorial as past experience has shown, hasn’t highly-qualified and experienced aca-
positions are vacant. worked. Policy formulators and the demic leaders and faculty, as indeed
Low pay, government interference Central and state governments also somewhat contradictorily mandated
and pathetic government and industry need to understand that careful su- by NEP 2020.
investment in research, drive the best pervision and nurturance shouldn’t be Autonomous HEIs led by experi-
talent abroad. According to a report in restricted to IITs, NITs and IIMs but enced VCs, Deans and Directors se-
Bridge Chronicle (July 6), 35 percent to the huge number of state govern- lected transparently by due process,
of IIT graduates whose education is ment funded HEIs where infrastruc- competing for students, faculty and
heavily subsidised by taxpayers, settle ture, teaching-learning and research commissioned research offer better
abroad and 60 percent of the remain- standards are very poor. What the prospect of rising to global standards
der work for foreign multinational large majority of India’s languishing than HEIs strictly regulated by gov-
subsidiaries in India. Low annual rates HEIs need is carefully selected VCs ernment bureaucrats.
of economic growth, obdurate red tape and Directors who should be given full The logic of liberalisation and de-
slowing industrial growth, pervasive autonomy with accountability. Right regulation of Indian industry and
civic mismanagement and difficult now, there’s too much nepotism, cor- business in 1991 since when the an-
ease-of-living conditions are other ruption and favoritism in the selection nual GDP growth rate has doubled,
factors driving Indian talent abroad. of HEI leaders. This is the prime cause needs to be applied to Indian aca-
Following loud hosannas and ac- of the low reputation and learning and demia. That’s the best way forward
clamation when NEP 2020 was pre- research outcomes of India’s HEIs,” to harvest 21st century India’s demo-
sented to the public five years ago, on says Dr. Surappa. graphic dividend of the world’s largest
deeper reflection well-informed, expe- In this interview with your edi- youth population.

56 EDUCATIONWORLD AUGUST 2025