Centre gives 10-day extension for receiving feedback on replacing UGC with Higher Education Commission

New Delhi: The Human Resource Development ministry extended the deadline for receiving feedback and suggestions from stakeholders on scrapping of the UGC and draft bill for replacing it with the Higher Education Commission for India. The decision to extend the deadline by 10 days, till 20 July, was taken following representations from various quarters. Union HRD minister Prakash Javadekar announced this at a press conference on Thursday. [caption id=“attachment_1371955” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. News18[/caption] The HRD ministry had last week announced its decision to replace the UGC with the HECI by repealing the UGC Act, 1951. According to the draft, which has been placed in public domain by the ministry to seek feedback from the stakeholders, the new commission will solely focus on academic matters and monetary grants would be under the purview of the ministry. Less government and more governance, separation of grant-related functions, end of Inspection Raj, powers to enforce compliance with the academic quality standards and to order closure of sub-standard and bogus institutions are some of the highlights of the new Higher Education Commission of India Act, 2018 (Repeal of the University Grants Commission Act). Javadekar also lauded the Union Cabinet’s decision to expand the scope of the Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) by enhancing its capital base to Rs 10,000 crore to meet the rising financial requirements of educational infrastructure in the country. “The landmark decision will give a big boost to higher education this year by adding Rs 22,000 crore funding from HEFA, which has also been tasked to mobilise Rs 1 lakh crore for Revitalising Infrastructure and Systems in Education (RISE) by 2022,” he said.