Educationists dub draft UGC regulations as intrusion into State’s policy

Well-known educationists from Hyderabad and Telangana have passed a resolution against the recently-floated UGC regulations by the Central government, dubbing the move as an interference in the domain of State’s universities.

“The UGC has become more intrusive into the governance structures beyond its mandated domain with politically motivated interventions, while drastically reducing its grant-giving functions. This has adversely affected premier higher education or research institutions,” says the resolution whose signatories include G. Haragopal, Akunuri Murali, Justice B. Sudarshan Reddy, P.L.V. Reddy, Rama Melkote, Padmaja Shaw and 13 other academicians.

“State universities have the autonomy to address the local conditions and to fulfil local needs in a culturally diverse country like India. Vesting the authority to appoint vice-chancellors with the governors drastically reduces the role of State Governments, attacks the very idea of federalism and sweeps aside the socio-cultural needs of the States,” says one of the key points that questions the move to vest the authority to select the vice-chancellors of Suniversities with Governors who are appointees of the Central government.

Another questionable regulation, according to the resolution, is that the term of VCs is now going to be five years as against the three-year term that was the norm in Telangana.

The resolution also questioned the allocation of ₹20,000 crore for Indian Knowledge Systems. “Going by the record of this regime, existing globally competitive science and technology institutions in India will be starved of funding and obscurantist studies on astrology and Manu Smriti, and falsification of history will be encouraged in the name of Indian Knowledge Systems,” says the resolution.

It called the new regulations a death-knell for higher education system in India if implemented.

“The draft University Grants Commission (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations 2025 are under the process of approval and would be placed in the public domain… Thereafter, it shall be notified as per procedure prescribed,” the UGC affidavit filed on Thursday (February 27, 2025) in the apex court said.