The Court of Governors of the Confederation of Indian Universities (CIU) announced through a Press release that the 2021 Edition of the Indian Universities Directory and Handbook containing the details of all the 1200+ Universities of India will be officially released on the occasion of the World Consumer’s Rights Day on 15 March 2022.

Chancellor Dr. Priyaranjan Trivedi, President
of the Confederation of Indian Universities (CIU)

The President and Plenipotentiary of CIU Dr. Priyaranjan Trivedi announced that CIU is fully dedicated to providing optimal support for enabling all the Indian University level institutions including the Central Universities, Institutes of National Importance, Government Funded State Universities, Private and Externally Funded State Universities and Deemed Universities regarding curriculum design, preparation of self instructional study materials for all types of courses including technical, vocational, skill oriented, traditional and non traditional subjects in the emerging fields.

He further announced that a separate department is functioning under the aegis of CIU for helping all such Indian Universities which are ailing due to shortage of funds and lack of teachers and students.

Dr. Priyaranjan Trivedi further announced that the preparation for data collection for the 19th Edition of the Indian Universities Directory and Handbook officially known as 2022 Indian Universities Directory and Handbook is scheduled to be released on 20th February 2023 on the auspicious occasion of the World Day of Social Justice.
 

Presenting Dr. Syama Prasad Mukherjee Memorial Lecture during the 12th Anniversary of the Confederation of Indian Universities (CIU), Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi, President of CIU and the State Chancellor of UN Affiliated IAEWP for the NCT of Delhi / South Asian Vice President of IAEWP thanked the Prime Minister Hon'ble Shri Narendra Modi who reiterated his Government's intention to set up 20 world-class universities this year. The idea is to bring about qualitative improvement in the standards of education -- currently India has virtually no representation in international rankings of educational institutions, Dr. Trivedi ridiculed.

The Chancellors and Vice Chancellors being felicitated for their outstanding contribution

Dr. Trivedi added that the Central Government will identify 10 Government and 10 Private Universities and help them achieve "WORLD-CLASS STANDARDS". According to the HRD Ministry's concept note submitted to the Prime Minister's Office, these universities will have

* A corpus of at least Rs 1,000 crore
* A place in the top 500 in any renowned ranking system
* Accreditation by a reputed international agency
* Faculty-student ratio not less than 1:10 over 3 years of establishment
* Excellent laboratory facilities and cutting edge research
* A good mix of domestic and foreign students
* A good proportion of foreign or foreign-qualified faculty
* Teaching and research collaborations with reputed international universities
* At least two publications in each discipline in a reputed peer-reviewed journal every year

Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi further added that this proposal is similar to Universities for Research and Innovation Bill 2012, which too sought to create a separate category of universities with autonomy to determine their own standards and decide on matters like faculty hiring and salaries, curriculum, fees, etc.

The Chancellors and Vice Chancellors having a group photograph with the Chief Guest
Hon’ble Shri Tathagata Roy, Governor of Tripura, Hon'ble Mr. Olaf Iversen, Consul General
of Germany in Kolkata and CIU President IAEWP State Chancellor for Delhi Dr. P R Trivedi

Discussing and explaining the modalities of the selection of these Universities out of the existing inventory of more than 875 university level institution including the Central, State, Deemed and Privately Funded Universities besides the Institutions of National Importance, Dr. Trivedi said that the aspirant institutions will submit a detailed 15-year plan of how they would meet laid-down requirements of world-class universities. A Committee of experts set up by the UGC will evaluate the plans and pick the universities for upgradation. Applicants in the Government category should figure in the top 25 of the National Institution Ranking Framework. Those in the private category can be both greenfield and brownfield institutions. Brownfields must be deemed universities with an 'A' from NAAC; greenfields must have a corpus of Rs. 750 crore.

Elaborating the cooperation and support from the Government, Dr. Trivedi said that the institutions will be able to:
* Charge fees from foreign students without restriction, and determine fee for domestic students, provided no meritorious candidate is turned away for want of money. There should be adequate scholarships.
* Offer courses and degrees in new areas without consulting regulatory institutions.
* Initiate academic collaborations with foreign educational institutions without need for Government approvals.
* Hire foreign faculty with relaxed salary restrictions.
* Hire industry experts even if they don't have requisite academic qualification.
* Spend resources with full financial autonomy.
* Government world-class universities will get additional assistance of Rs. 500 crore over 5 years.

The Chancellors and Vice Chancellors having a group photograph with the Chief Guest
Hon'ble Shri Tathagata Roy, Governor of Tripura, Hon'ble Mr. Olaf Iversen, Consul General
of Germany in Kolkata, the CIU President IAEWP State Chancellor for Delhi Dr. P R Trivedi and the
Organizing Committee Heads for the 12th Anniversary Celebrations on 5th October 2016.

Examining the prospects and the constraints, Dr. Trivedi commented that the details of the proposal are not public, and have not been analyzed threadbare. Allowing private players to set up entirely new institutions as world-class universities could be seen as an attempt to give big private interests easy passage into the education sector with little monitoring, and without the obligation of adhering to Government regulations. The proposal is silent on whether foreign education providers can use this route to enter India and set up campuses here.

Gassing the future scope and possibilities, Dr. Trivedi said that a law can be brought by Parliament, or such institutions can be declared Deemed Universities. Should the HRD Ministry choose the Deemed University route, the University Grants Commission will have to amend its Deemed University Regulations.

Dr. Trivedi congratulated the Central Government for recently announcing the desire to have 20 Universities that are ranked among the world's great universities. Although that goal is praiseworthy, the ability to make the dream a reality seems far-fetched based on my experiences over the past year doing research on higher education in India.

Dr. Trivedi also observed that regardless of which rankings one considers, a glut of universities in the United States always appear in the top 200. By one measure, eight of the top 10 and 50 of the top 100 universities in the world are from the US. The result is that other countries try to mimic what they think the Americans are doing, but they learn the wrong lessons.

The Chancellors and Vice Chancellors being felicitated for their outstanding contribution in the specialized
areas related to educational planning, administration, research and development.

India's plan is to have half of the 20 world-class universities come from the private sector. The assumption seems to be that private universities are among America's best institutions and that the small number of new privates in India might be better situated to vault into the elite 200 than the many older central and State Universities.

The US Government also does not fully fund all of its public universities; that is music to the ears of Indian politicians who want to use public monies for other public services.

Such an interpretation of America's dominance in world-class rankings is a misreading of why American universities continue to dominate league tables. Here are five ways to think about American higher education that may be useful for helping India achieve its goals :

* World-class universities are old: Of the top 200 universities in the world only one is less than 50 years old. A handful of US universities are just over 50 years old, but most have been around for much longer. However admirable some of India's new private universities are, there is almost no chance that any will leap into the top 200 in the next decade -- and certainly 10 private universities won’t. If India wants to break into the upper echelon within 10 years it will be done by public universities or not at all.

* World-class universities have strong vice-chancellors without term limits: Public and private universities in the US have vice-chancellors who are largely chosen because of their fundraising and intellectual prowess. They generally do not serve with term limits and are not political appointees. At my own University of Southern California, I have had two presidents in 22 years. The Board of Trustees, with faculty input, hired them. My current president is raising US$7 billion over 10 years to strengthen our endowment. India's vice-chancellors serve very short terms, are often political appointees, and almost never raise significant amounts of capital from donors and philanthropists.

* World-class universities have institutional autonomy: Strategic plans, hiring and tenure determinations and budgeting decisions are made by the faculty and administrators of America's best institutions. Deans and faculty researchers have a significant amount of authority over their budgets. In India the ministry and the University Grants Commission exert enormous oversight that disables any sense of institutional or individual autonomy.

* World-class universities have significant discussions about academic quality: The standards for tenure and promotion at premier American universities continue to rise. The determination of the standards is set, and quality control is carried out, by the faculty. Tenure is a process that ensures faculty rights, but also requires faculty responsibilities. In India, discussions about quality, if they occur, take place on national commissions, not within a university, and faculty appointments are seen as government sinecures for life.

* World-class universities see academic freedom as the central value of academic life: Academic freedom is always debated and arguments about the limits of academic freedom have swirled on American campuses for a century. The general precept is that faculty, through the protection of tenure, has an obligation to ensure that a university's faculty and students are able to speak what they desire, however controversial those statements may be. In India, academic freedom is questioned by individuals inside and outside the university and a chill on free speech on campus is evident.

Dr. Trivedi suggested that if India wishes to have a handful of world-class universities created within the next decade then we will have to ensure that public funding and philanthropic support increase. We can't say we want academic excellence and hamstring vice-chancellors or micro-manage from ministry offices or overlook issues of quality control or create a climate where academics are unable to speak truth to power.

Dr. Trivedi emphasized that India certainly has the intellectual capacity to have dominant universities, but significant structural reforms are necessary if that promise is to become a reality. In an increasingly globalized world, the picture of the tranquil university steeped in quaint intellectual pursuits and buffered from real-world concerns appears to be rapidly fading. Institutes of higher learning seem to be shedding the "ivory tower" image and embracing a vision of well-oiled engines of research that promote economic growth, Dr. Trivedi felt.

Dr. Trivedi also observed that the proposed World Class Universities are now commonly viewed as vital to advance a nation's development, there is an urgent need for conventional wisdom to be scrutinized. Too many countries believe that if they don't expand in this regard, they won't be taken seriously on the world stage. The notion of the world-class university has taken on a life of its own.

Explaining the scope of world class, Dr. Trivedi wanted to ask as to what does "world class" really mean? He observed that for some it means being a superpower in terms of science and technology research. It is connected to the idea that universities are going to produce technological innovations.

Dr. Trivedi also stressed the need for research assessing the extent to which professional development currently taking place in universities in fact leads to greater empowerment for students and faculty. The trend to produce world-class universities, to my mind, represents neither pure progress nor pure wickedness, with the 'bad guys' taking over. The bottom line is that countries and universities need to think carefully and pay attention to what they're doing, rather than just automatically following the pack.

Assuring the 50+ Vice Chancellors present in the 12th Anniversary Celebrations of the Confederation of Indian Universities held at the Science City Auditorium, Kolkata on 5th October 2016 on the occasion of the World Teachers' Day where the Chief Guest was the Hon'ble Governor of Tripura Prof. Tathagata Roy who also assured of his fullest cooperation for strengthening the cause of CIU for enabling the university level institutions to become world class. While inaugurating the 12th Anniversary Celebrations of CIU and releasing "The Indian Universities Directory 2016", the Governor Prof. Tathagata Roy recalled the outstanding contribution of CIU in uniting all the Universities of India and by implementing action oriented programmes not presently covered by the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the Association of Indian Universities (AIU).

While reciprocating the plan envisaged by CIU, Chancellor Dr. P R Trivedi announced that Tripura will be the priority State for implementing cleanliness, hygiene and sanitation education for making Tripura as a model State.

It may be mentioned that the Confederation of Indian Universities (CIU) under the dynamic leadership of the great institution builder, philanthropist, thinker and environmental scientist Chancellor Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi has designed a masterplan paradigm for helping all the 875+ university level institutions to optimize their available resources and for greening and cleaning their ivory tower and for ensuring proper skill development with a view to producing more number of job givers rather than job seekers for ultimately solving the burning problems relating to peacelessness, poverty, unemployment, greed, pollution, faulty educational system and population explosion.

Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi has also invited all the educational planners, thinkers and administrators to keep on contacting him and the CIU Team through his Email ID : [email protected]

Press Release

New Delhi, October 1, 2016 (United Nations International Day of the Elderly Persons)

The Confederation of Indian Universities (CIU) established and inaugurated on the occasion of the Higher Education and Development (HEAD) Day on 15^th April 2004 at New Delhi will have its 12^th Anniversary Celebrations at the Science City Auditorium, Kolkata where the Governor of Tripura Hon’ble Prof. Tathagata Roy will be the Chief Guest. He will also release the Indian Universities Directory 2016 containing the list and details of more than 835 Universities of our country duly recognized by the Government of India and the University Grants Commission (UGC). Addressing the Representatives of the print and the electronic media, the President of Confederation of Indian Universities (CIU) Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi said that many packages and state of art technologies will be discussed for the benefit of all the university level bodies. Main stress will be given on employment centric cleanliness, hygiene and sanitation education with a view to strengthening the cause of Swachchh Bharat Abhiyan announced by the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, he further added.

CIU President Dr. Priya Ranjan Trivedi addressing the Press and Media

Out of the existing inventory of more than 1000 Chancellors, Vice Chancellors and Heads of Institutions of National importance, important personalities to be felicitated during the 12^th Anniversary at the Science City Auditorium, Kolkata on 5^th October 2016 at 4 pm include Prof. Gurdeep Singh, Vice Chancellor, Vinoba Bhave University, Hazaribagh, Jharkhand; Prof. P K Mishra, Vice Chancellor, North Orissa University, Odisha; Prof. Saket Kushwaha, Vice Chancellor, Lalit Narayan Mithila University, Darbhanga, Bihar; Dr. Anwar Shaikh, Director, International Affairs, Commonwealth, Vocational University, Tonga; Prof. Basab Chaudhuri, Vice Chancellor, West Bengal State University, West Bengal; Prof. Ranjan Chakrabarti, Vice Chancellor, Vidyasagar University, West Bengal; Prof. Gopal Chandra Misra, Vice Chancellor, University of Gourbanga, West Bengal; Prof. Smritikumar Sarkar, Vice Chancellor, University of Burdwan, West Bengal; Prof. Dipak Ranjan Mandal, Vice Chancellor, Sidho- Kanho-Birsa University, West Bengal; Prof. Anuradha Mukhopadhyay, Vice Chancellor, Diamond Harbour Women’s University, West Bengal; Prof. Mita Banerjee, Vice Chancellor, West Bengal University of Teachers’ Training, Education Planning and Administration, West Bengal ; Prof. Chirantan Chattopadhyay, Vice Chancellor, Uttar Banga Krishi Viswavidyalaya, West Bengal; Prof. Anil Bhumali, Vice Chancellor, Raiganj University, West Bengal; Prof. Purnendu Biswas, Vice Chancellor, West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences, West Bengal; Prof. Dhrubojyoti Chattopadhyay, Vice Chancellor, Amity University, West Bengal; Prof. A. S Kolaskar, Vice Chancellor, The Neotia University, West Bengal; Prof. H N Datta, Vice Chancellor, The Global Open University, Nagaland; Prof. Sunil Rai, Vice Chancellor, Assam Kaziranga University, Assam; Prof. J D S Panwar, Vice Chancellor, Venkateshwra Open University, Arunachal Pradesh; Prof. Fr. S. J Paul Fernandes, Vice Chancellor, Xavier University, Odisha; Prof. Shyam Sundar Pattnaik, Vice Chancellor, Biju Panaik University of Technology, Odisha; Prof. Siba Prasad Adhikary, Vice Chancellor, Fakir Mohan University, Odisha; Prof. E Saibaba Reddy, Vice Chancellor, Veer Surendra Sai  University of Technology, Odisha; Prof. Rash Bihari Prasad Singh, Vice Chancellor, Nalanda Open University, Bihar; Prof. Babu Sebastian, Vice Chancellor, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala; Prof. R P Singh, Vice Chancellor, Kolhan University, Jharkhand; Prof Leela Chand Saha, Vice Chancellor, Veer Kunwar Singh University, Bihar; Prof R. C Srivastava, Vice Chancellor, Rajendrar Agricultural University, Bihar; Prof. P Pasupalak, Vice Chancellor, Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, Odisha; Prof. Anil Kumar Singh, Vice Chancellor, Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Agricultural University, Madhya Pradesh; Prof Ajoy Kumar Singh, Vice Chancellor, Bihar Agricultural University, Bihar; Prof. P Rajendran, Vice Chancellor, Kerala Agricultural University, Kerala; Prof. Amit Banerjee, Vice Chancellor, Siksha O Anusandhan University, Odisha; Prof A. Lakshminath, Vice Chancellor, Chanakya National Law University, Patna.

Other salient feature of the 12^th Anniversary Celebrations is that “The G-51 (Group of 51 Universities) will be formed and announced for ensuring the successful operations and implementation of the Centrally Sponsored projects like Swachchh Bharat Abhiyan, Skill India Mission, Make-in-India Mission, Clean Ganga Project, Beti Bachao Abhiyan, Elderly Care Programme, Start Up India Programme, Clean Up India Project, Digital India etc., Dr. Trivedi opined.