Institutes of National Importance

Content:

What are Institutes of National Importance?

• An Institute of National Importance (INI), in India is defined as one which serves as a pivotal player in developing highly skilled personnel within the specified region of the country/state. 
• The Institute of National Importance is a status that may be conferred on a premier public higher education institution in India by an act of Parliament of India. 
• These Institutes are declared as such by the Government of India by an Act of Parliament and are empowered to award degrees. In some cases, such Institutes are also set up by the Government through an Act of State Legislation
• Only a chosen few institutes make it to this coveted list and are usually supported by the Government of India or even any other international institutes to develop centers of excellence in research, academics, and other such elite schools of education. 
• In India, all of the IITs, NITs, AIIMS, NIPERs, ISI and some other institutes as Institutes of National Importance
• As of 2020, there are 159 institutes, declared as Institutes of National Importance under a distinct Act of Parliament. These INIs include 23 IITs; 15 AIIMSs; 20 IIMs; 31 NITs; 25 IIITs; 7 IISERs, 7 NIPERs; 5 NIDs; 3 SPAs; 5 central universities; 4 medical research institutes and 14 other specialized institutes.
• It is an institution which “serves as a pivotal player in developing highly skilled personnel within the specified region of the country / state “.
• Section 22 of The University Grants Commission Act 1956 enables ‘Degree Granting Status’ to such INIs established by an Act of Parliament for conferring or granting degrees.
• The admission to these institutes is through highly competitive examinations like the IIT-JEE/JMET/AIEEE/NIMCET etc.

Benefits they enjoy

• These institutions are largely funded and supervised, if not governed, by the Government of India, mostly through the Ministry of Education. 
• They are academically autonomous and are not under any state or central university. This autonomy gives the institutes the freedom to operate their academic activities on their own without having to comply with the syllabus or schedule of other universities thereby allowing them to do what they feel is the best for their students.
• These institutions also enjoy certain tax related advantages.
• There are also scholarships schemes provided by the government of India that only apply to theInstitutes of National Importance.
• It becomes easier to obtain ‘Research and Development Grants (R & D Grants) if the proposal is from such an institution

Problems they face

INIs are given autonomy related to curriculum and assessment. This can be equated with dynamism and freedom that an institution will need to change the course structure and curriculum to fit the demands of the market forces.

However, they lack in other dimensions i.e.  managerial, administrative, and financial autonomy due to bureaucratic or government interference.

There are regulatory restrictions with regard to mode of delivery; like distance education, source of funding, compliance of guidelines of multiple regulatory bodies affects governance of an educational institution.

Other issues include:

•  External Controls on autonomous functioning of universities.
• Restrictions on academic autonomy as a consequence of the limitations of university Acts.
• Government’s interference on vital issues like appointments of Vice-Chancellor, functioning of
• the Senate, Executive and Academic Council.
• States’ authority over the universities through legislation.
• Wide powers vested in the Chancellors’.
• Appointment of political executives on university bodies.
• Laying down of service conditions.
• Financial aid as a tool to curtail the autonomy of the universities.
• State control on opening of new colleges or grant of affiliation to new colleges.
• Frequent interference of the judiciary in matters relating to university affairs.

Suggestions

The concept of autonomy is a structural solution intended mainly to provide an enabling environment to improve and strengthen the teaching and learning process. 

Autonomy alone may not guarantee higher quality, just as non-autonomy need not preclude better performance. 

The essential factors for high quality education are:

•  the caliber and attitudes of students towards learning, 
• the competence and commitment of teachers towards educational processes, 
• the flexibility and foresightedness of the governance system and 
• the social credibility of the educational outcome. 

Report of the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) Committee suggested the following measures to ensure autonomy:

• The present system of assigning fixed number of positions of Professors, Readers & Lecturers to each department should be replaced by a system wherein the head of the institution should have the autonomy to determine both the rank and the number of these positions in accordance with the tasks envisaged in the development plan of the institution.
• All bodies and authorities in the universities and colleges should have representatives from the concerned stakeholders with an appropriate mix of elected and nominated representatives from amongst academia.
• Funding to individual institutions should be provided on block grant patterns so that they have greater degree of freedom to set up their own priority.
• All institutions should have the provision to provide free-ships and scholarships to meritorious and deserving students coming from lower socio-economic strata of the society.
• The practice of financial disclosure standards should be introduced in self-financing institutions with a view to bringing greater levels of transparency in their financial management.
• The audit systems including the system of internal audit should be strengthened with a view to ensuring proper expenditure management and compliance of financial rules and regulations.