Next, a university of diaspora

Mrityunjay Ram / TNN / Jan 8, 2006, 03:53 IST

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Government is interested in establishing a university exclusively for People of Indian Origin.

CYBERABAD: Indian students hanker after foreign education, the diaspora longs for an Indian education for its new generation. To cater to that need, the government is planning to set up a special university for People of Indian Origin (PIO).
"The Centre will establish a university to provide access to affordable and quality education to the children of PIOs.
It will primarily cater to the needs of students of Indian origin from Malaysia, Mauritius and a few south east Asian countries," ministry of overseas Indian affairs secretary S Krishna Kumar told STOI.
The university could be located either in India or abroad. The secretary's elucidation came on the heels of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's announcement in his speech to the Pravas i Bharatiya Divas that his government was interested in establishing a university exclusively for PIOs. This because there was an unmet demand for higher education in a number of countries.

Indian government bosses think that in the process, the country could attract other overseas students as well.
"There will be a lot of interest all over the world to come and study in India for the sheer experience of being in a most happening society," Krishna Kumar said, echoing the PM's thoughts.
Besides, the university would be set up in the larger context of opening up the education sector to private investment, attracting more PIOs to study in India, thereby fostering a multi-cultural, multi-racial learning environment.

Whether it would be a deemed university or one affiliated to the University Grants Commission is something that would have to be thought about, the secretary said.
Currently, foreign students wanting to study in Indian universities or colleges affiliated to them are required to apply through the ministry of human resources development and the department of education. Several universities have set aside a certain percentage of seats for diaspora students.
However, many of them have been facing several technical problems such as fulfilling official formalities like student visas and others. Against this backdrop, there has been a long-standing demand from NRIs for a PIO university.
NRIs at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas welcomed the decision. "The move will help parents as their children can get access to higher education at an affordable cost.
Till the 1960s, overseas Indians and other foreign students sought admission to our colleges and universities and the decline in interest in the last three decades is on account of lack of effort on our part to market our varsities," Tata Pra-kasham, an NRI in the US, said.

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