About Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan
- The Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan is the central government’s contribution to further the promise held by the rich expanse of India’s state universities.
- Launched in October 2013 that aims at providing strategic funding to higher education institutions throughout the country.
- The scheme is being operated in mission mode for funding state universities and colleges to achieve the aims of equity, access and excellence.
- Funding is provided by the central ministry through the State governments and Union Territories (UTs), which in coordination with the Central Project Appraisal Board monitors the academic, administrative and financial advancements taken under the scheme.
Objectives of RUSA are:
- Improve the overall quality of state institutions by ensuring conformity to prescribed norms and standards and adopt accreditation as a mandatory quality assurance framework
- Usher transformative reforms in the state higher education system by creating a facilitative institutional structure for planning and monitoring at the state level, promoting autonomy in State Universities and improving governance in institutions
- Ensure reforms in the affiliation, academic and examination systems
- Ensure adequate availability of quality faculty in all higher educational institutions and promote capacity building at all levels of employment
- Create an enabling atmosphere in the higher educational institutions to promote research and innovation
- Expand institutional base by creating additional capacity in existing institutions and establish new institutions, to achieve higher enrollment
- Correct the regional imbalances in terms of access to higher education by setting up institutions in un-served and underserved areas of the country
- Improve equity in higher education by providing adequate opportunities of higher education to SC/STs and socially and educationally backward classes; promote inclusion of women, minorities, and differently abled persons
Primary components of RUSA
- Creation of Universities by conversion of colleges in a cluster
- Creation of Universities by upgradation of existing Autonomous College
- Enhancing Quality and Excellence in select Autonomous Colleges
- Equity Initiatives
- Faculty Improvement
- Faculty Recruitment Support
- Infrastructure grants to colleges
- Infrastructure grants to Universities
- Institutional Restructuring, Capacity building and Reforms
- New Colleges (Professional)
- New Model Degree Colleges
- Quality and Excellence in select State Universities (new)
- Research, Innovation & Quality Improvement
- Upgradation of Existing Degree Colleges to Model Degree Colleges
- Vocationalisation of Higher Education (State as a Unit)
Source: Indian Express and rusa.nic.in
