PM Modi's Rs 10,000 crore plan for Indian universities: 10 points

1. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the Centre has decided to give autonomy and Rs 10,000 crore to 20 leading universities in the country over the next five years to make them world-class.



2. Speaking at a function to celebrate 100 years of establishment of Patna University, PM Modi said it was a "blot" that Indian educational institutions do not figure among the top 500 of the world, when in the past, the Nalanda and Takshashila universities attracted students from all over the world.



3. The government has come up with a scheme to make ten private and ten public universities world-class by providing them autonomy from the constraints of government rules and freedom to grow, the Prime Minister announced. These universities will not be chosen on the basis of "recommendation", he added.



4. Elaborating on the selection criteria for this scheme, PM Modi said, "The universities will be a selected on the basis of a challenge in which they will be required to prove their mettle. The selection will be based on factors such as history, performance and its roadmap reach global benchmarks. A third party professional agency will be involved in the selection process."



5. Observing that reforms in the country's education sector have progressed at a slow speed, the Prime Minister urged universities to move from conventional teaching to innovative learning and said there was need for students to "un-learn, de-learn and re-learn".



6. Later in the day, PM Modi also laid foundation stones for four sewerage projects under the Namami Gange Programme and four national highway projects in Mokama area of Patna district.



7. After laying the foundation stones for these projects, PM Modi said the state was getting gifts worth Rs 3,700 crore coinciding with festivals of Diwali and Chhath.



8. The four sewerage projects for which the foundation stones were laid are Sewage Treatment Plant at Beur, Sewerage System with Sewer Network at Beur, Sewage Treatment Plant at Karmalichak, and Sewage Treatment Plant and Sewer Network at Saidpur -- all in state capital Patna.



9. PM Modi also said that River Ganga was inextricably linked to the lives of people. The projects related to Namami Gange will help preserve the river, he said. Protecting the Ganga is a step towards saving the future generations, he added.



10. The Prime Minister said cleanliness of the Ganga will also lead to awareness about the need to preserve other rivers, which will save the country from water crisis.


PM Modi's Rs.10,000 crore plan for Indian universities