New Delhi, Sept. 19: India will not bind foreign educational institutions on its soil to quotas or fee restrictions under a proposed law that the UPA has dramatically altered after returning to power four months ago.

The Foreign Educational Institutions Bill has been revised under human resource development minister Kapil Sibal to create a new category of institutions not shackled by Indian education regulators for legitimacy, government officials told The Telegraph.

The Union cabinet will discuss the bill for approval on September 24, the officials said.

The bill, conceived about a decade ago, was repeatedly held up under the first UPA government because of persistent opposition from the Left, which was propping up the government.

Then HRD minister Arjun Singh was also known to harbour suspicions about the proposed bill, which he had argued represented growing American pressure on India.

Singh had persistently maintained that foreign educational institutions must implement Indian quotas and be subject to fee regulations.

But Sibal is learnt to have contended that the government cannot demand quotas and fee regulations on foreign institutions when it does not enforce the same on Indian private unaided institutions.

The bill that will be placed before the cabinet now will be silent on quotas and will effectively allow foreign educational institutions to charge fees determined by the market.

Sibal has altered the earlier bill to introduce stricter norms on the entry of foreign institutions — in a bid to curb fly-by-night operators.

The earlier bill, which was cleared by the cabinet under the first UPA government, did not require any minimum experience from interested institutions while applying.

The redrafted bill mandates that foreign educational institutions should have operated for at least 10 years in their country of origin before they can apply to start a campus here.

This clause will prevent new foreign institutions keen to rake in a quick profit from entering India.

The earlier bill required that foreign educational institutions seek deemed university status from the University Grants Commission (UGC) before they become eligible to offer courses in India.

Under the revised bill, these institutions will draw their legitimacy from the proposed law, and will not need to apply to the UGC or any other Indian regulatory body for recognition.

Sources said the foreign institutions would effectively represent a “special category” that would legally neither be regarded as a university nor a deemed university.

Under Indian law, only universities, deemed universities and institutions recognised by acts of Parliament can offer degrees. While drafting the earlier bill, officials had argued that foreign institutions could be granted deemed university status to allow them to offer degrees here.

Foreign educational institutions keen to set up a campus in India must provide the Union government a certificate from an accreditation body in their country of origin.

A central panel will examine all applications, scrutinising past credentials of an institution before registering it and allowing it to offer courses here.

This licence can be revoked if the government finds the institution violating any norms of the proposed act.

The Left — while opposing the Foreign Education Institutions Bill — had demanded that the government first introduce regulations on Indian private unaided institutions.

But HRD ministry sources confirmed that there are no plans at present to introduce any regulation on Indian private unaided institutions.

special category

• What Sibal’s reworked bill on foreign educational institutions means

• No quotas — either for teachers or students.

• Market, not government, will decide fees at these institutions

• Institutions will need 10 years experience in their country

• Institutions will not be treated like universities or deemed universities. They will be classified as a special category — foreign education providers

• Institutions will need accreditation from recognised agencies in their country

• A central government panel will scrutinise applications and register institutions