you have come out openly against the document on higher education signed by nkc chairman sam pitroda in december 2006 what are the points of contentionthe commission is apparently working in an autocratic manner the recommendations were prepared without consulting members of the commission as a whole there was hardly any debate or meaningful discussion before forwarding the document to our policymakers i have sent another document to the prime minister elaborating on my views pointwisemoreover a vision document on higher education should have a purpose and its recommendations should be in accordance with the vision principles the first document lacks on this account also the recommendations need to consider that higher education is not necessarily careeroriented which is currently the scene in indiayour version of the document makes reference to affiliated colleges and proposes a complete overhaul of the university system please commentthe business of affiliated colleges is a kind of cancer for the nation because most of these are profit institutions globally this system does not exist anywhere else the results are obvious 75 of our engineers and doctors are unemployable the document also does not address the criteria for admission to universities and the issues it presents for instance an iti graduate is still not allowed to pursue higher studies at a university the present curriculum and examination system also need to be changed academicians ought to develop a model simmilar to the massachusetts institute of technology mit in the us wherein curricula may vary from university to university you have criticised the new model for a regulatory body wherein the university grants commission ugc would be a mere funding agency and a new body would regulate institutions for higher education and also the selection procedure of vice chancellors vcs whyi support the proposal for a new body completely independent of any political interference but we need to clearly outline the objective that it serves to prevent it from becoming another ugc the selection of vcs ought to be purely academic and depoliticised also the members of the selection committee should preferably be made public the process needs greater honesty and integritywhat is your opinion on the recommendations regarding accessibility to higher education in the first nkc documentsix percent of the gdp is a good enough allocation for education in order to upgrade the 1000 colleges that have the potential to be converted to universities out of the 17000 nationwide in spite of this only 1500 universities have been recommended though we need more than 3000three thousand universities seem too many for the government to set up alone what about in partnership with the private sector the moment education is sold it is devalued public private partnerships ppps are fine but they should be devoid of commercial motives there is a difference between a university run by a trust and one run by a businessman there has been a lot of fudging within the auditing of private universities as the system is not transparent