The Draft UGC (Minimum Qualifications for Appointment & Promotion of Teachers and Academic Staff in Universities and Colleges and Measures for Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education) Regulations, 2025, have become a cause of concern mong educators, regulatory bodies and policymakers.
For Chairperson of Telangana Council of Higher Education V. Balakista Reddy the Regulations hint at a clear danger to the autonomy of institutions in the long-term.
Speaking to The Hindu , he says the Regulations “clearly unravel a larger agenda of controlling the institutions by the Centre through the UGC and seek to dilute the very essence of academic standards and sanctity.”
According to Mr. Reddy, the shifting goalposts of UGC regarding minimum qualifications for appointment as a faculty member is a major challenge. The other is of increasing the weightage for academic and research standards in relation to publications.
It appears that UGC is seeking to drop its own ‘UGC-CARE List’ of journals and the journals indexed in Scopus and Web of Science platforms, while the emphasis is on peer-reviewed journals.
Predatory journals
“This is happening even as the academic community has been trying to tackle an enormous number of predatory journals. It is a strange case of a defendant, judge, and jury all rolled into one to decide the merits of the case. Terms such as ‘notable contribution’ have been cited as criterion for approval and promotion of academic staff,” he says.
The major issue of contest is ‘UGC as a tool of intervention from New Delhi’ not only forays into unchartered territory but also raises legitimate concerns on the role of Governor in appointment of Vice Chancellor, since the nominee of the Governor, as per the Regulations, will constitute the Search Committee.
“The role of UGC clearly amounts to overriding the guidelines governing the academic system already decided by the State legislature. And exploring the appointment of VCs from industry and the public sector may appear innovative in the quest to make universities globally competitive but they could lead us to a new set of problems,” he says.
Not a symbolic post
Mr. Reddy, a professor of Law, also feels that the post of Vice Chancellor is not just a symbolic one, but an endorsement of one’s contribution to academics, research, and ability to lead an educational institution towards its goals.
There are risks too, he adds. If innovativeness and competitiveness are the pitching points for seeking candidates from previously uncharted areas such as industry, public policy, and public administration, it would pave the way for the corporatisation of academic institutions.
“By that logic, will the UGC also plan to suggest a reversal of roles by prompting the faculty to join the boards of MNCs and Public Sector entities?” he wonders.
Dilution of standards
Mr. Reddy also acknowledges the dilution of standards in the institutions of higher education by the call for relaxation of the criteria about campus size, number of programmes, and appointment of the teaching staff by private parties seeking to establish universities and technical institutions as a “growing challenge” that needs immediate attention by both the Centre and States (the Concurrent List).
He concludes that UGC must consult all the stakeholders to work towards academic and managerial functions in universities, keeping in view the heterogeneous attributes of the country while also addressing the regional and local concerns.
