The Government of India will soon set up a Higher Education Commission in nine cities, said the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The commission will serve as an umbrella body, which will have "four separate vehicles for standard-setting, accreditation, regulation and funding." In effect, institutions in these cities may not always have to get themselves accredited by the UGC in Delhi but could approach these bodies for the same.
While the setting up of the same was proposed in Budget 2019-20, the legislation to implement the same will be laid down soon, she said. "Many of our cities have various institutions, universities and colleges supported by the GoI. For instance, Hyderabad has 40 of them. In nine such cities, we will create a formal umbrella structure, so that these institutions can have better synergy while also retaining their internal autonomy," she says, adding that a glue grant will be set up for this.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented her third budget this year at 11 am. Amid the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, the Finance Minister presented a paperless budget. This is the first time in India's history that a paperless Union Budget was presented. As the budget papers will not be printed, the Finance Minister had also launched an official mobile app to provide complete access to all budget documents. The mobile app can be downloaded from the Union Budget Web Portal www.indiabudget.gov.in.
The Finance Minister had assured a budget “like never before”. The budget 2021 has a greater significance as it comes amid the COVID-19 pandemic which has caused economic disruption.
FM Nirmala Sitharaman replaced the Swadeshi 'bahi khata' and switched to a tablet. She was seen carrying a tablet kept inside a red coloured cover with a golden coloured national emblem embossed on it. The Economic Survey 2020, presented by FM Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday pegged the GDP growth at 11 per cent in FY22.
