In a country like India, where the newly elected government, through its newly drafted education policy, has promised to establish various differentiated educational institutions which will impart quality education at all levels, as a move to increase public access to the right to education. Now, there are two kinds of universities- private and public. While public universities are fully government funded, private universities are not. They are self funded. In some places, we also find some semi private universities, which are partially self funded and partially funded by the government. The procedure for establishment of public/ government universities is simple- it can be established simply through a State/ Central Act, which has in- built in itself- all the necessary affiliations and recognitions- such as by the University Grants Commission/ /UGC, All India Council for Technical Education/ AICTE, Bar Council of India/ BCI, approval of the Ministry of Human Resource Development/ MHRD etc., depending on the requisites of a University accordingly. Some Government established universities in India are- Banaras Hindu University, Delhi University, Allahabad University, Jawaharlal Nehru University, all provincial universities such as Chandigarh University, Lucknow University, etc,. These Central universities have various universities and colleges under them- affiliated to them- taking the example of Delhi University, it has more than hundred colleges under it.

Seeking the reader’s attention, we come to private universities.

 What are private universities? Who owns them? How do they collect funds to establish what they want? All of such questions would be answered in this article itself, on further reading.

Who can sponsor or propose to sponsor the opening of a private university?

• According to the guidelines provided by the University Grants Commission/ UGC, the proposal for establishment of a private university can be sponsored by only the following people:

• A Society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 (Central Act No. 21 of 1860); or

• (b) Any Public Trust registered under the State Public Trusts Act, or the Indian Trusts Act, 1882 (Central Act No. 2 of 1882) or under the relevant laws in any other State or Union Territory or

• (c) A Company registered under Sec 25 Companies Act, 1956.

How to present a proposal?

• The entity interested in sponsoring the establishment of a private university must submit an application along with a detailed proposal to the Department of Higher Education under the MHRD,  along with a demand draft of Rs.1,00,000 ( Rs.One lac) in favor of the Director, Higher Education. The application should mandatorily contain- the details of the sponsoring body along with the copies of its registration certificate, constitution and bye-laws; the name, location and headquarters of the proposed University; the objectives of the University; justification regarding the necessity of establishing the proposed University; details of whether the private University is proposed to be a domain specific or multi- domain and in case of multiple domain, details of the specific domains proposed such as engineering, law, management etc.,; the nature and the type of programs of study, training, and research proposed to be undertaken; the proposed fee structure including the extent of concessions or rebates in fee and scholarships to economically or socially backward families, including SC/ST, handicapped students and other underprivileged category;  at least 22.5% seats shall be reserved for the all aforesaid categories put together; the system proposed to be followed for selecting students for admission to the programs of study at the University; the experience and expertise in the concerned disciplines; availability of academic research and training facilities including teaching and nonteaching staff; the system proposed to be followed for appointment of teachers and other employees in the University; the proof of ownership of land or plans for land procurement and infrastructural development for the proposed University in a phased manner; the details of plans for campus development such as construction of buildings, development of structural amenities and infrastructure facilities and procurement of equipment etc. to be undertaken before the University starts functioning and phased programs for campus and infrastructure development within first five years of its existence; details of play grounds and other facilities available or proposed to be created for games and sports and extra- curricular activities; outlays of capital expenditure proposed for the next five years and its sources of finance; the estimated recurring expenditure course wise or activity wise, sources of finance and estimated expenditure per student; commitment to follow the norms of the regulating bodies; such other details as the sponsoring body may like to give or such other details as may be prescribed by the Government.

Examination of proposal application

 On receipt of the proposal application as submitted by the sponsoring body, the State Government will appoint a Committee comprising of senior government officials and reputed academicians. They then scrutinize the application according to some mandatory parameters such as-

• Sponsors financial soundness and assets and its ability to set up the proposed University’s infrastructure

• The background, general reputation of the sponsoring body, its experience in the field and its commitment to follow the norms of UGC or any other regulatory body

• The potentiality to develop the human resources as per the requirements of contemporary demands

The committee would then submit the report it makes after the above- mentioned inspection and the State Government will further scrutinize it within two months. If the State Government comes across any deficiencies on the part of the sponsoring body, it shall so direct the latter to submit the details which are deficient or for removal of deficiencies, to which the sponsoring body is obligated to comply with.

Issue of Letter of Intent

 After receipt of the revised report, if the State Government is satisfied that the sponsoring body can proceed with the establishment of the University, it shall issue a letter of intent within one month of the inspection of the revised report by the inspection committee, to the sponsoring body, asking it to- establish an endowment fund for the University which shall be pledged to the Government which may be increased by notification issued by the State Government in the Gazette from time to time. The amount of endowment fund shall be -:

(i) 5 crores rupees for single-domain

(ii) 8 crores for multi-domain

Apart from this, it shall also ask the sponsoring body to-

• sponsoring body must acquire not less than 10 acres of land for its main Campus if single domain and 25 acres of land if multi-domain

• construct administrative building of at least 1000 sq mtrs, academic building including library, lecture theatre, laboratories of at least 10000 sq mtrs, adequate residential accommodation for teachers, guests, hostels which shall gradually be increased to accommodate at least 25% of student strength in each course within 3 years of existence

• purchase books and journals of at least Rs.10 lacs or as per the norms of regulating bodies, purchase equipment, computers, furniture, other mobile and immobile assets and infrastructure facilities worth rupees 20 lacs or as per the norms of regulating bodies

• give undertaking to appoint at least one Professors, two Associate Professors and three Assistant Professors having prescribed qualifications and necessary supporting staff in each department or discipline to be started by the University

• And some other requisites.

Compliance Report Submission by the Sponsoring Body

 After the conditions mentioned in the letter of intent have been fulfilled by the sponsoring body, the sponsoring body shall within a period of two years submit to the State Government, a compliance report along with all the necessary documents for verification and scrutinization. The Committee will submit its report to the State government specifying that all the requirements and conditions laid down in a letter of intent have been fulfilled.

Enactment of Law for Private University

 After the Inspection Committee is satisfied with the compliance report as submitted by the sponsoring body, it shall communicate the same to the State Government and the State Government would then table a separate Act for the specific University before the State Legislature for its approval. The State Legislature will then pass a separate Act for the establishment and incorporation of the particular Private University, thereby enabling the Government to issue a Gazette Notification. The said notification will be sent to UGC and MHRD for information. The sponsoring body will be further required to make an application to UGC to enlist the newly incorporated University in the UGC List of Authorized Universities.

The University will be required to get itself assessed by NAAC within three years of its establishment and will also have to fulfill all other requirements / criteria laid down by various statutory bodies as applicable

Sources

http://www.scdl.net/Downloads/GuidelinesfortheEstablishmentofPrivateUniversities.pdf

https://business.mapsofindia.com/how-to-start/university.html