‘No Directive Limiting The Choice Of Research Subjects In Higher Education’: HRD Ministry Clarifies

HRD Ministry on Monday (25 March) evening issued a clarification stating that it had issued no directive that limited that choice of subjects for research in higher education institutes.

“The Ministry of Human Resource Development has not issued any directive to restrict choice of subjects for research, as has been reported in a section of media since the Government believes in the principle of freedom in research,” the government said in a statement.

The issue flared up after Meena T Pillai a literature professor resigned from the board of studies at the Central University of Kerala (CUK) alleging that the university’s administration had urged departments to admit Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) students only if their topics concerned “national priorities.” She claimed that research undertaken in “irrelevant" areas was actively being discouraged.

“Last year, there was a meeting of Vice Chancellors of 11 Central Universities, which were lacking in research. In the said meeting they presented a road map to improve research and also discussed the issue of more research on issues relating to national priorities. The minutes of the meeting were recorded,” the government further added referring to a meeting held on 15 December (2018).

Range Of Subjects

Elaborating on the actions taken by the government to improve research and development (R&D) in diverse areas, the ministry stated that it had provided Rs 480 crore for Social Science Research Project under Impactful Policy Research in Social Sciences (IMPRESS); Rs 225 Crore for research in basic sciences.

Also, Rs 1000 crore were allocated under Impacting Research, Innovation and Technology (IMPRINT) for technology-related research; Rs 450 crore under STRIDE for research in Humanities; and Rs 480 crore under Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration (SPARC) for joint research with foreign universities in any discipline.

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