Finance minister Arun Jaitley had announced in the 2016 budget that the government would enable regulatory architecture to provide 10 public and 10 private institutions to emerge as world-class teaching and research institutions. While description like Institutes of excellence and possible use of the term National were considered, finally, it was agreed to rename them as ‘Institutes of Eminence.’

The HRD ministry of India set a high-powered committee under former Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami to select 20 top educational institutes that will be given the ‘Institute of Eminence’ status. The committee seems to have had a tough time to select the institutions as per the UGC (University Grants Commission) guidelines and had to tweak down the key criterion:  multi-disciplinary initiatives, high quality research, global best practices and international collaborations. One of the key changes, however, was the  corpus fund requirement. It was originally proposed that a private institute must have a corpus of Rs 500 crore to be eligible to be declared a world class institute. However, after the PMO’s intervention, this was said to be reworked to keep it at Rs 200 crore instead. The HRD ministry brought this down to just Rs 60 crore- to be raised to Rs 150 crore in ten years’ time. It is argued that corpus fund is set aside as locked up money, so there may not be enough rationale for prescribing such a high amount is kept immobile.

The draft regulations had also said that the institutions must ensure a 1:10 faculty-student ratio, enrol 20,000 students in 15 years. These criteria also got tweaked and revised with a proposal instead to start with 1:20 Faculty Student ratio, to be improved to 1:10 in five years’ times and a total enrolment of 15,000 students in 15 years (?)

Following this, the University Grants Commission announced the names of the six institutions on Monday, July 9^th 2018; three in public sector and three in private sector. The HRD Minister Mr. Prakash Javadekar said that selection of institutions of eminence will not only improve the quality of education but also propel competition in the entire education sector. The three public institutions will receive Rs 1,000-crore funding while the three private institutions will be given academic and administrative autonomy.

Reliance Foundation’s Jio Institute is among the six colleges that have been selected as Institutions of Eminence – a status that will ensure complete autonomy and facilitate them to make a mark in global rankings. Apart from Jio – which is yet to established, other five institutions are Indian Institute of Science- Bangalore, IIT-Bombay, IIT-Delhi, Birla Institute of Technology and Sciences (known as BITS-Pilani) and Manipal Academy of Higher Education. All these institutions are running and doing well. But, why Jio Institute, which does not even exist yet, finds its place in the list? This is the question that has raised anguish among the academicians and public ever since the government announced its decision.  The HRD ministry said the committee found that only Jio Institute had fulfilled all the parameters. Mind you, it was competing with another eleven private existing institutes.

People of India are not dumb and numb to take this hurried selection of Jio Institute lightly. The Ministry of Human Resource Development sensed that their decision is not accepted by the people of the nation; hence they came out with an explanation on how Jio Institute was accorded such coveted status despite having no physical infrastructure in place.  According to the government, Jio Institute has been given this tag under Greenfield Project – purpose of which is to allow responsible private investment to build global class educational infrastructure. There were four parameters on which all applications were judged. The parameters were: (a) availability of land for construction of the institution, (b) putting in place a core team with very high qualification and wide experience, (c) making available funding for setting up the institution and (d) a strategic vision plan with clear annual milestone and action plan. The Selection Committee has come to a conclusion that out of the 11 shortlisted private institution applications, only Jio Institute satisfied all the four parameters, and hence was recommended for issuing a letter of intent for setting up an Institute of Eminence. The Ministry also clarified that the private institutions under the project will not get funding from the government. The Ministry had received 114 applications – 74 from public sector and 40 from private sector – for selection of IoEs.

Jio Institute, an institution proposed to be set up by Reliance Foundation, is led by Nita Ambani backed by Mukesh Ambani. The foundation is the philanthropic arm of Reliance Industries, the largest private company in India. With this, the Jio Institute gets exceptional freedom from the government’s higher education regulations from its very birth.

Ironically, the selection committee ignored these important criterions: an Institution of Eminence should offer interdisciplinary courses and conduct research in “areas of emerging technology”. It must have a mix of foreign and Indian students and faculty, with “student amenities comparable with that of globally reputed institutions”. The Jio Institute has none of these. It is yet to be born. How then it has been declared an “Institution of Eminence”, at par with the Indian Institutes of Technology at Delhi and Bombay, the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, the Birla Institute of Technology at Pilani, Rajasthan, which was set up in 1964, and the Manipal Academy of Higher Education, which began with Kasturba Medical College in 1953???

Jio Institute is proposed to be established in Navi Mumbai. Soon after the ministry made the list public, it received thumbs down by the people of the country and opposition political parties. News flashed in media all over “The BJP Govt favours Mukesh and Nita Ambani yet again”. The illusionary JIO Institute which is yet to see the light of day; it takes long years to establish an eminent educational institution. Autonomy in education does not always work well in India: placements, teachings, fests, extracurricular activities, research, collaborations are misconstrued. By the way, Jio is trending on Twitter, with many tagging Education Minister Prakash Javadekar, asking him about the institute’s location and credentials. The HRD ministry has made a sham of the “eminence” tag.

Modinomics will boost growth 

The book Modinomics – Inclusive Economics, Inclusive Governance authored by Sameer Kocchar talks about Narendra Modi’s thought process and his idealism on the Indian Economy. Mr. Modi feels that neither Soviet style socialist path nor free-market western capitalist economy is going to work for India. He is of the view that the country must have a unique blend of its own socio-economic policies that would leverage India’s unique strengths and propel it further to centre-state economy. Modi also feels that India’s unique strengths – its diverse demography, geography, and natural resources are not utilized so far. Modinomics is about inclusive economics and inclusive governance. The book highlights the uniqueness of the brand Narendra Modi – who is very Swadeshi at heart, while also globalist and pragmatist. He is bureaucratic, always thinks big, while he pays attention to details. A Gujarati to the core and believes in India first.

The book talks about Modi’s rise which has overlapped with the UPA II Government’s downfall due to the economic slowdown. Modi’s intelligence and pragmatism helped him captured the political and economic mind space left vacant by the UPA. Modi’s Gujrat model has stood tall on two things one is his is personal vision and ambition for the state and second is his ability to get the best out of the bureaucracy by delegating it authority and responsibility. Modi’s hawk- eyed administration kept the state administration tick round the clock. His astute communication allowed him to rise; he is blessed with oratory skills. He used social media to the fullest by subtle messaging and a natural wit. He is the most followed leader on social media and his website is interactive. Kocchar has written the book precisely in a chronological order.

Modi’s charisma got the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies the whooping 336 seats in the 2014 Loksabha election. No sooner he came to power, he sent a loud message to corporate houses and investors—both nationally and internationally, that India is open for business again. His mantra “maximum governance, minimum government” says a lot about his liberalization instinct and opening of the economy further by reducing hindrance. He is well aware of the left centered intellectual mainstream in the nation; which will initially create some roadblocks for him to push forward major economic reforms. Modinomics centers on lower government debt, more privatization and greater openness to foreign investors.

India’s economy is stumbling under high inflation and the worst slowdown since free-market reforms in the early 1990s, and the budget is the first major test of Mr Modi’s reformist credentials since he swept to power in May with a pledge to boost growth and create millions of new jobs. In its first ever budget, the new government has promised a new era of fiscal prudence and greater opportunities for foreign investors in key sectors of the economy, what is worth praises is defense is given priority which was overdue. To ensure that the military, which has repeatedly used warned of outdated and inadequate equipment, has its way on the modernization drive, the government has budgeted Rs. 94,588 crores, Rs. 5000 crore more than what was sanctioned by the previous government in February in the interim budget this year. Overall defense spending has gone up by Rs. 26,000 crores.

The budget promotes skilling and vocational training among youth and to make them job-ready. The stress is laid on rural entrepreneurship; to encourage rural youth to start their own ventures, Finance Minister. Jaitley has announced a spending of Rs 100 crore to start village entrepreneurship training schemes. Recognizing the importance of stepping up vocational trainings and bringing it at par with the higher education system, he has announced the ‘Skill India’ programme and allocated an amount of Rs 14,389 crore for job creation, a huge part of which will hopefully be spent in training the youth.

The Finance Minister has also proposed setting up of five new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and five Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) across the country at a cost of Rs 500 crore, this shows the new government’s inclination and keenness to accelerate the skills of youth, education is given priority. For the farmers, the budget has announced a slew of much-awaited measures. Focus on increasing irrigation facilities, farm markets, financial help to landless farmers and Kisan TV to provide real time information to farmers would help in increasing productivity of the farm sector. Moreover, Haryana, Jharkhand will have research centers in Horticulture, Agriculture and Maharashtra will get agri-biotech clusters.

The budget is has tried to touch the aspirations of all sections of society. Landless farmers will be given cheaper credit, the rural poor have been promised broadband, cheaper TVs and better roads, Dalit-focused schemes have been allocated more money, the middle class have been given tax breaks and India’s holiest river will get funds for a clean-up.

To give a stimulus to the infrastructure and manufacturing sector, a 10-year tax holiday for undertakings that generate and transmit power has been unveiled. Focus on industrial infrastructure such as a plan to establish seven industrial cities in India would enhance industrialization and create employment opportunities in the economy. The allocation for urban infrastructure earmarked at Rs 50,000 crore is really appreciable and this would expedite the pace and urbanization in the country and give a massive boost to growth and expand the national economy much faster.

The boost to Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITS) and Infrastructure Investment Trusts is very encouraging news for the real estate and infrastructure markets as it offers innovative and modern tools of investment to Indians. These are all important signals. Investment allowance of 15% to the manufacturing companies investing Rs 25 crore in plant and machinery would accelerate capital investments and propel manufacturing growth.

Steps are undertaken to revive SEZs would help to rejuvenate the investment cycle. Similarly, facilitation to manufacturing units to sell their products through retail and e-commerce would reduce the selling cost and benefit both manufacturers and consumers. Furthermore, it is also a taxpayer-friendly budget as the income-tax exemption limit has been raised by Rs 50,000 to Rs 2,50,000, the PPF ceiling to Rs 1,50,000, housing loan rebate to Rs 2,00,000, investments under 80C to Rs 1,50,00. In view of this, through appropriate tax planning those drawing a salary up to Rs 6,00,000 can bring down their tax liability to nil.

Taking into account the fact that our Finance Minister got only 45 days’ time to prioritize his priorities and for drawing up the budget for 2014-15, he has done an excellent job because this budget is undoubtedly very progressive, astute and realistic. Modi has consolidated ministries and scrapped cabinet panels to streamline administration and speed decisions. Finance Minister, Jaitley has been honest about not being interested in “mindless populism” in burdening public finances.

I personally think Modinomics is put into practice in the Union Budget – 2014 in inclusive economics and inclusive governance.