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Cover Story
India’s Top 100 non-autonomous colleges

The paradox of India’s multi-layered structure governing higher education is that
some of the country’s most admired undergrad colleges, which should have been
awarded academic autonomy decades ago, are tied to the apron strings of their
affiliating universities. These colleges are ranked separately in EWIHER 2020-21

pioneer private higher education
institutions whose academic and
administrative autonomy was — and
remains — severely circumscribed
by government organisations such
as UGC, AICTE which prescribe
elaborate rules and regulations for
universities which stringently control
and micro-manage affiliated colleges.
In all states of the Indian Union,
private colleges are obliged by law
to be affiliated with state or Central
universities.
As a result some state universi-
ties such as Mumbai, Bangalore and
Madras, have 600-700 affiliated
colleges. As such they are obliged to
follow the prescribed syllabus of the
affiliating university which conducts
exams, awards grades and degrees.
St. Stephen’s College, Delhi: routinely #1 but not autonomous Under this standardisation process,
even India’s most famous private
ven in the 21st century, This multi-tiered regulatory colleges established more than a cen-
India’s higher education structure governing higher education tury ago have substantially lost their
system is a regulatory was designed to enable government identities and reputation because
Emaze. The country’s 39,931 and the ruling party at the Centre syllabuses and curriculums have
undergraduate colleges and 993 — i.e, Congress which ruled over been reduced to the lowest com-
universities are strictly monitored, post-independence India for over mon denominator, exam papers are
supervised and regulated by several half a century — to closely monitor evaluated by university appointed
apex organisations including the and supervise higher ed institutions assessors and degrees awarded are of
University Grants Commission to ensure that capitalist and other the affiliating university.
(UGC), All India Council for heretical ideologies and content Following liberalisation of the
Technical Education (AICTE) and didn’t creep into their syllabuses Indian economy in 1991 and emer-
Medical Council of India (MCI) etc, and curriculums. This Big Brother gence of academically and financially
which in turn are governed by the supervisory system was inspired by autonomous private universities
Union ministry of human resource communist ideology, especially of the established by special legislation of
development (HRD) accountable (since collapsed) Soviet Union. Inde- state governments (education is in
to the Union cabinet. Moreover, pendent India’s first prime minister, the concurrent list of the Constitu-
capital intensive institutions of Jawaharlal Nehru and his daughter tion of India), which have been
science, technology and business Indira, who served three terms as enthusiastically welcomed by the
management such as the Indian prime minister after Nehru’s demise public, there’s been increasing pres-
Institute of Science, IITs and IIMs in 1964, were deeply enamoured with sure from top-ranked colleges for
(and JNU) — established by special the Soviet Union and its control-and- academic autonomy. They want to
legislation of Parliament — are command economy. build their brands and recover their
directly controlled by the HRD Hence the strict regulation and lost independent identities. Conse-
ministry. ‘backdoor nationalisation’ of India’s quently, under its rules and guide-

60 EDUCATIONWORLD APRIL 2020