Union Budget 2021: Centre To Create Umbrella Structure For Institutions In 9 Cities

New Delhi: The Centre will create a formal umbrella structure for higher education institutes in nine cities, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said while presenting the Union Budget 2021-22 on Monday.

“Many of our cities have various institutions, universities, colleges, supported by the Government of India. Hyderabad, for example, has almost 40 major institutions. In nine cities, we will create a formal umbrella structure so that these institutions can have better synergy while also retaining their internal autonomy,” Sitharaman said during her speech.

The government will implement the legislation for establishing the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) envisaged in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

“In Budget 2019-20, I had mentioned about setting up a Higher Education Council in India. We would be implementing the legislation for the same this year. It would be an umbrella body having four separate bodies for standard-setting, accreditation, regulation, and funding,” the Sitharaman said.

Rs 50,000 crore was also allocated for the National Research Foundation for over five years.

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