New Delhi, May 1: The demand to upgrade several universities, including Jadavpur University, to the level of central university has been nipped in the bud.

The human resource development ministry today issued a note stating that it had taken a policy decision not to convert state universities into central universities for "reasons of legacy issues, adjustment of existing staff and disaffiliation of affiliated colleges".

The note said the government had launched a centrally sponsored scheme, the Rashtriya Uchchtar Siksha Abhiyan (Rusa), that seeks to incentivise the state governments to improve higher education by creating additional capacity in existing institutions in unserved and under-served areas.

The state governments can set up new universities and colleges keeping in mind local requirement under this scheme, it said.

The HRD ministry had received proposals and demands from several quarters to convert many state universities to the level of central university.

In January 2011, then Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had written to then HRD minister Kapil Sibal for upgrading Jadavpur University.

Trinamul Congress leader Partha Chatterjee, then leader of the Opposition in the Bengal Assembly, and two junior Trinamul ministers in the Union government had also written to Sibal demanding the central tag for JU.

In 2010, then President Pratibha Patil had written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for converting Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University in Maharashtra to a central university. The proposal was forwarded to the HRD ministry.

Sources said many other state governments had sent proposals at different points to the HRD ministry for upgrading some of their universities.

At least three universities were upgraded in 2009. However, a perception exists that the output in terms of teaching and research has not improved much in some of the upgraded universities.

Several employees participate in political activities and the state-level institutions have a large number of affiliated colleges, which keep the teachers preoccupied with examinations and publication of results most of the time in a year.

The HRD ministry had last year sought the opinion of the law ministry on whether upgraded universities can disaffiliate the colleges. The law ministry had advised an amendment to the Central University Act for disaffiliation.