The Education Ministry on Monday, March 27, told Lok Sabha that it has received a letter of intent from Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) for the establishment of a medical college. This Ministry, in response, has asked JMI to submit a basic concept note comprising details of expenditure, projection of the students and faculty strength and the requirements of regulatory approvals in order to assess the matter holistically, as stated in a report by The New Indian Express.
One of the members of the Parliament, Danish Kunwar, had raised this question in the Lok Sabha, asking whether the government has received any proposal to open MBBS medical college from Jamia Millia Islamia University; if so, the details thereof and the action taken/being taken by the government in this regard.
It was in October 2022, when Jamia Millia Islamia University's Vice-Chancellor Najma Akhtar had appealed to the Central government to grant approval for setting up a medical and nursing college as part of the varsity. Akhtar had said that a medical college is an important requirement for the South East Delhi neighbourhood where the university is located and would also be helpful for people living in adjoining areas such as Noida. Akhtar had made the comments during the 102nd Foundation Day celebrations of JMI.
Kunwar had also asked whether the government is encouraging the institutions which are performing well in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF). To this, the ministry replied, "In order to incentivise the institutions performing well in the India rankings conducted by National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), the government in the schemes like Scheme for Transformational and Advanced Research and Sciences (STARS) and Prime Minister's Research Fellows (PMRF) has included NIRF ranking as one of the eligibility criteria for identification of institutions."
"Further, with an aim to grant autonomy and to improve the academic standards of institutions and lay down academic standards, University Grants Commission (UGC) has issued various regulations like UGC [Institutions Deemed to Be Universities] Regulations, 2019, University Grants Commission (Academic Collaboration between Indian and Foreign Higher Education Institutions to offer Twinning, Joint Degree and Dual Degree Programmes) Regulations, 2022 prescribing NIRF ranking of the institute as one of the eligibility criteria," ministry further added.
