Centre approves 70 new model colleges

The Centre has approved establishment of 70 new model colleges across the country with one each in Yadgir and Raichur districts of Karnataka.

The Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry has sanctioned establishment of these model colleges at a recent meeting of the project approval board. The ministry has earmarked a total of Rs 840 crore towards establishment of the new colleges.

The funds will be granted to the states under the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA)—a flagship scheme of the HRD ministry rolled out during the erstwhile regime of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) to overhaul the higher education institutions functioning under the states.

The ministry has sanctioned opening of new model colleges for a total of 70 "aspirational districts" in the country on the basis of “criteria of backwardness and low density of colleges.”

Jharkhand will get funds under RUSA to set up the highest number of new model colleges, one each in 13 districts, most of which are hit by the left-wing extremism, Chhattisgarh 7, Madhya Pradesh 8 and Odisha 6.

Five new model colleges each will be set up in Rajasthan, Bihar and Assam; three each in Jammu and Kashmir; two each in Telangana, Sikkim, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh; and one college each in Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Nagaland.

“An amount of Rs 840 crore has been approved for opening of these 70 new model colleges under RUSA,” a ministry official said.

Besides, five autonomous colleges in Karnataka have been selected for grant of funds under RUSA to enable them further enhance their quality in teaching, research and institutional excellence.

St Agnes College in Dakshina Kannada district, JSS College for Women in Mysuru, St Aloysius College in Dakshina Kannada district, ST. Philomena College in Mysuru and Jyoti Nivas College in Bengaluru (Urban) has been selected for the grant.

“Each of these five institutions would get a grant of Rs 5 crore for strengthening teaching, research and institutional excellence,” the official said.