HRD ministry okays 5-year plan for higher education

The Government has approved as many as 470 social science research projects under a scheme rolled out by the Human Resource Development Ministry last year.

The Ministry approved the research projects worth over Rs 34 crore under the Impactful Policy Research in Social Science (IMPRESS) scheme.

“Under the leadership of Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank', Ministry of HRD has approved 470 research proposals to boost research exclusively in social sciences through a Scheme: ‘Impactful Policy Research in Social Science (IMPRESS)’ at a cost of Rs 34,86,55,350,” the ministry announced on Twitter late on Friday.

It, however, did not provide more details on these research projects.

Meanwhile, the Ministry also finalised a five-year vision plan of its higher education department to achieve 10 ambitious targets which included doubling of the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER), which is estimated to be 25.8% at present; upgrading the quality of education to global standards and positioning at least 50 Indian institutions among the top-1000 global universities; and accreditation of all higher education institutions.

Placing India in the top three countries in the world, in matters of knowledge creation, and increase in investment in higher education are the other targets the HRD ministry aims to achieve in five years.

“The ten expert groups drawn from senior academicians, administrators and industrialists, have suggested more than 50 initiatives that would transform the higher education sector completely,” the Ministry said in a statement.

For each initiative, the groups have recommended “modalities” for implementation, investments and timelines.

“The proposal would now be taken for inter-departmental consultations and appraisal through the EFC (Expenditure Finance Committee) mechanism before being taken to Cabinet for approval,” the Ministry added.