`Over-affiliated' universities split for better 

governance

Hemali Chhapia

Mumbai:





Where higher education is concerned, big might not necessarily be better. With colleges mushrooming across India to meet demand from students keen to get an undergraduate experience, many huge universities are breaking down, literally. Bifurcation or trifurcation is the new trend, both for better governance and to further academic excellence. “We had been reduced to exam houses,“ said a former vice chancellor of the united Bengaluru University . Trifurcated recently , its 700-odd colleges have been re-distributed among three universities. “Colleges have been apportioned universities based on their location in the city ,“ said S A Kori, member secretary of the Karnataka State Higher Education Council.

There are now 268 affiliating universities in India with 39,071colleges. Sevente en have 500 or more colleges attached to them.

Previously , Rajasthan University with its 792 affiliated colleges was also trifurcated. “Earlier, this division was looked upon as a breakdown, but now all the three universities appreciate having smaller sets of colleges to oversee. It gives everyone time and space to promote excellence,“ said said a former VC of Rajasthan University . Under affiliation re har forms, after the com mencement of The Bi State Universities (Amended) Act, 2016, two new universities namely Patliputra University in Patna and Purnia University in Purnima established by division of two existing universities namely , Magadh University , Bodh Gaya and Bhupendra Narain Mandal University , Madhepura.

There are now 268 affiliating universities across India and they have 39,071 colleges.Of the 268, 17 universities have 500 or more colleges attached to them.
Osmania University, which used to be the largest affiliating institution, saw its college network dismantle when Andhra and Telangana parted ways. In its place, Chhatrapati Sahuji Maharaj Kanpur University took pole position with 1,276 colleges and about 1.5 million students.

The last three years have seen the university system in Uttar Pradesh expand exponentially . The state is also home to the second largest varsity , Bhimrao Ambedkar University , Agra, which took over from Savitribai Phule Pune University , which is now down to being the fourth biggest school. All eyes are on UP and Maharashtra that are home to “mammoth universities“, said sources.

Universities known to be among the most durable institutions are slouching under the burden of their own large affiliating system. Spawning districts and towns, universities have been expanding their territories only to realize that they were wavering from creating knowledge and doing research that mattered.

The Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyaan, or Rusa, the HRD ministry's programme for reviving state universities, in its report noted that the rampant rise in colleges affiliated to universities has led to the deterioration of quality of higher education.