The Ministry of Education, Government of India, is set to launch the “One Nation, One Subscription” (ONOS) policy in 2025. First proposed in 2021, the initiative aimed to provide countrywide access to national and international scientific and academic content to students and universities.
Under ONOS, the Central Government plans to acquire national licenses for journals and subscriptions from prominent STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) and Social Sciences publishers. By combining these resources and offering them through consortia in a phased manner, the policy seeks to streamline access and reduce costs, as explained by the Ministry in the Lok Sabha in 2023.
In a Department Order dated November 5, 2024, addressed to vice-chancellors of all Centrally Funded Technical Institutes (CFTIs) and Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs), the Department of Higher Education announced that negotiations for implementing the policy have been concluded and that its rollout is in an “advanced stage of consideration.”
The order also directed institutions to halt renewing their journal subscriptions until further notice.
However, some netizens, particularly those critical of the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) expressed their suspicions with the initiative.
They feared that this was yet another step by the BJP-led Central Government to undermine the functioning and freedom of public universities.
Some netizens also claimed that the initiative attempts to replace the journals the universities subscribed to with those supportive of the BJP’s ideology.
Then, there were some users who poked fun at the Central Government’s pattern of naming its initiatives in a way that juxtaposes its offering with a singular, united nation.
However, some users defended the initiative, clarifying that it was merely a step to reduce the costs incurred by universities in subscribing to journals.
As the rollout approaches, the effectiveness of 'ONOS' will hinge on its ability to address these apprehensions transparently, ensuring that the policy serves the diverse needs of the academic community while safeguarding the independence of higher education institutions.
