'No final decision on shifting funds-sanctioning power'

New Delhi: The Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) has issued a clarification that apprehensions retarding recommended shift of grant-giving functions to the ministry under the proposed Higher Education Commission of India (Repeal of University Grants Commission Act) Act 2018 are purely misplaced.

In a statement issued on Monday, the Ministry stated that the subsequent comments made in various sections of the media about the proposed shift of the grant-giving power from the UGC as a part of its proposed transformation.

The HRD Ministry has clarified that no such final decision has yet been taken in this regard even though the recommendations about separating the regular and grant-giving entity has been made by many an expert committee in the past and is rooted in sound principles of governance.

The government is keen to ensure that the grant-giving process would be purely based on merit, an online objective system that assures both transparency and efficiency with the least human interface. Such IT systems are already operating in managing much bigger funding schemes like IMPRINT

and RUSA flawlessly and therefore can be put in place to

manage UGC schemes easily," the ministry stated in its Press note.

The Ministry has reacted after a section of academicians questioned the move saying politicians should not be involved in academic matters. According to a draft, which has been placed in the public domain by the ministry to seek feedback from the stakeholders, the new commission will solely focus on academic matters and monetary grants would be under the purview of the ministry.