The relationship between higher education and the State should ideally be founded on a delicate balance between aid or assistance and autonomy. At both the state and Central levels in India this balance has been difficult to maintain, or even to strike. So the new “blueprint” for centralizing important aspects of the running of all Central universities can only be received with mixed feelings. It has been presented to no less than the prime minister by top-level representatives of the Planning Commission and the University Grants Commission. According to this plan, Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University should be the model for bringing uniformity to admission procedures (a single test), fees, semester and credit systems. The underlying principle is to ensure higher enrolment and greater autonomy, understood as the lack of “political interference”, especially in the appointment of vice-chancellors and faculty.

Political interference is not simply the pressure to appoint people with the right allegiances. Centralizing, which always enhances the role of the State in the running of institutions at all levels, is also a kind of politicization. There is no reason to assume that politicians and bureaucrats, however well-meaning and well-educated, can work out a single, perfect way of admitting students, structuring courses and marking examinations that would work uniformly well for currently 30, and eventually 44, institutions of higher education. To take on such a role is not only to aid and assist these institutions, but also to intervene actively in their pedagogical and academic affairs. A uniform system of marking would certainly facilitate mobility among universities for students and ensure greater justice in the preparation of the results. But such matters as admission tests should be left entirely to the universities. Each university, especially the good ones, has its own ethos, emphases and criteria of excellence. To try to homogenize this variety might end up being a rather damaging, and even impossible, exercise. Besides, the ultimate goal of higher education should be academic excellence, and not increased numbers or even ‘relevance’ to contemporary employment needs. Political leaders and bureaucrats should ensure that universities are properly resourced. But the fixing and maintaining of academic standards and methods are the business of educators. The government should keep out of this as far as possible.