Cabinet nod for 12 central universities

Pitching for excellence in higher education and skill development, the Centre approved a slew of schemes, including setting up of 12 Central universities, hostels for girl students in 3,500 educationally backward blocks, quality education in Madrasas, and upgradation of 1,096 Government ITIs.The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, gave its nod to set up 12 Central universities and convert four existing state universities into Central universities.The proposed universities will come up in Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir,Karnataka,Kerala and Tamil Nadu.TheCabinet also approved converting Hari Singh Gaur University in Madhya Pradesh,Guru Ghasidas University, Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh, Hemvati Nandan Bahugnua University in Uttarakhand and Goa University as central universities.The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved a Rs 2,000-crore scheme to set up free furnished hostels for girl students across the country. “Under the scheme 100-seat girls hostels will be created in 3,500 educationally backward blocks. Attempts will be made to link them up to the extent possible to the existing Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs),” said Finance Minister P Chidambaram. The scheme, which aims to arrest the female dropout rate in schools, would target girls studying in class IX to XII,with special focus on girl students belonging to SC, ST, OBC, minority and families below povertyline.The cost would be shared with 90:10 model between the Centre and the state.
The CCEA approved another Rs 325-crore scheme to provide quality education in Madrasas — to encourage traditional institutions like Madrasas, Maktabs, DarulUlooms to introduce science, mathematics, social studies, language and English in their curriculum.“It is a voluntary scheme for traditional institutions to raise the academic proficiency for students of classes I to XII,” said Chidambaram. The Government, however, has earmarked Rs 625 crore for the scheme to further enhance it if the response is good.