Stephen�s, SRCC, LSR will be autonomous soon

The St. Stephen’s College, Shri Ram College of Commerce and Lady Shri Ram College may soon attain the status of autonomous college, which they were wishing for from a long time. This autonomy will be accompanied by incentives from the Union government.

Apart from reviving the 6th Five Year Plan’s (1980-85) proposal for autonomy to top colleges in the country, the Ministry for Human Resource Development is planning to allow the newly autonomous colleges to start their colleges in other locations. It is working on removing bureaucratic complications so the path for other colleges will be smoother for other interested colleges.

As per the MHRD officials, select colleges across the nations including Stephen’s, SRCC and LSR in Delhi, St. Xavier’s in Mumbai and Chennai’s Loyola College are being considered. After attaining the autonomy, these colleges will become deemed universities with the freedom to design and develop their own curriculum and courses as well as avail of external funding and conduct independent examination.

Therefore, they will not have the authority to confer degree and the university they are affiliated to at present will continue to do so. A senior MHRD official said, “The biggest gain, however, will be that these colleges may open campuses in other locations and for that they will be given grants initially.” St. Stephen’s received the status of autonomy in 1981 but the plan was shelved owing to opposition from Delhi University Teacher’s Association and the university administration. SRCC’s proposal too, faced opposition when it was tabled in 1976.

Principal of St. Stephen’s Valson Thampu said, “This is a progressive idea but one long overdue. The government should enter a partnership with an NGO of high credibility. Only Muslims matter as minorities because of vote bank politics. Christians don't matter but it is they who have done the most for education in this country. There should be at least 5,000 St Stephen's across India if we want to make a qualitative difference to higher education.”

The University Grants Commission has promised to highlight this topic in the next full commission meeting. The ministry official said, “We will remove all bureaucratic hurdles for colleges keen on autonomy provided they get the highest rating from National Assessment and Accreditation Council. As an incentive, we will make it easier for autonomous colleges to open more campuses across the country.”