The National Secretariat of the Communist Party of India expresses its strong opposition to the recently announced measures of UGC allowing foreign universities to open branches in India. The time allotted to make suggestions is grossly insufficient. The policy will harm, dilute and destroy the Indian higher education system leading to commercialisation. This decision will make education expensive and Dalits, advasis, minorities and the poor will be adversely affected. The decision is a reflection of government’s pro-rich approach in the background of statement made in the Parliament by the Education minister that Indians should stop depending on the idea that universities should be funded by government. The fact is that the government is spending less than three percent of its budget on education when more allocation is needed. The policy of reservation and principle of social justice will be harmed in a big way. The imposition of such policy on states is anti-federal and encroachment on the powers of state governments.
The CPI demands that the regulatory frame work for such universities must be placed before and discussed in the Parliament before taking any hasty and unilateral decision that can jeopardize the future of our students and the country.
The CPI calls upon all students’ and teachers’ organisations to resist this retrograde and exclusionary step.
