(a) whether there are any guidelines/ criteria for opening Central University in various States of
the country;
(b) whether the Government has received any proposal from the State Government of Rajasthan
requesting for opening other Central Universities in the State;
(c) if so, whether the request is being considered and if not, the reasons therefor; and
(d) the steps taken by the Government in this regard?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
(DR. MAHENDRA NATH PANDEY)
(a) to (d) Central Universities are established under an Act of the Parliament. With a view to
increase the access and to improve the quality of higher education and to address the issue of
regional imbalance in the country, the 11th five Year Plan (2007-2012), as approved by the National
Development Council (NDC), envisaged setting up of one Central University each in States which
did not have any Central Universities (CUs) till then. Accordingly, 16 CUs were established under
the Central Universities Act, 2009 including 3 State Universities converted into Central
Universities.
During 12th Plan (2012-17), the thrust was on consolidation of the higher education system.
Expansion is to be mainly done by scaling up capacity of the existing institutions in place of setting
up new institutions. Besides, the Central Government has launched Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha
Abhiyan (RUSA) on cost sharing basis to assist States to open new institutions.
At present, there is no proposal under consideration to set up new Central Universities in the
country including Rajasthan. However, the Andhra Pradesh Re-organisation Act 2014 envisages for
establishment of one Central Tribal University each in the State of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana
and one Central University in the successor state of Andhra Pradesh in the 12th and 13th Plans.
Further, the Prime Minister announced a package for Bihar on 18.8.2015 which includes
establishment of a Central University near Bhagalpur at the historic site of Vikramshila University.
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