Parliament Question: Sufficiency of Educational Institutes

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-4070 ANSWERED ON 18/08/2025 Sufficiency of Educational Institutes

4070. Shri Dharambir Singh:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government has conducted any national assessment for sufficiency of Universities, Colleges, and Schools compared to the population density, State-wise;

(b) if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether there is a standard benchmark for number of Institutions against population, if so, the details thereof;

(d) the efforts made by the Government to ensure equitable distribution of Higher Educational Institutes and Schools in underserved regions;

(e) whether the Government has identified specific gaps in Haryana, especially in Bhiwani and Mahendragarh districts;

(f) whether there is any national policy to establish new institutions based on population trends and projected demographic growth; and

(g) if so, the details thereof ? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (DR. SUKANTA MAJUMDAR)

(a) to (g) The National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020) envisions achieving 100% Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in preschool to secondary level by 2030 and raising GER in Higher Education, including vocational education, to 50% by 2035. The policy takes a comprehensive approach to improving educational quality, emphasizing discovery-based learning, holistic development, and supportive systems across all levels to foster critical thinking and innovation.

To enhance equitable access to higher education, the Government has undertaken several measures which led to a significant increase in the number of Higher Educational Institutions

(HEIs) to 60,380 as per All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2022-23 (provisional).

Since 2014, 42 new Centrally Funded Institutions have been established which include 16 Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIIT), 8 Central Universities (CU), 8 Indian Institute of Management (IIM), 7 Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), 2 Indian Institute ofScience Education and Research (IISER) and 1 National Institute of Technology (NIT).

Initiatives also include financial support through scholarships for students from SC/ST/OBC, minority communities, and underserved regions; permitting eligible HEIs to offer Open and Distance Learning/Online programmes; allowing two admission cycles per academic year; and facilitating flexible learning through platforms like SWAYAM. These efforts have contributed to an increase in GER to 29.5 as per AISHE 2022-23 (provisional).

To address the needs of unserved and underserved areas, the Government launched the third phase of Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) in June 2023, in the form of Pradhan Mantri Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (PM-USHA), for the period 2023-24 to 2025-26 with an outlay of ₹12,926.10 crore, including committed liabilities.

The establishment of higher educational institutions is an ongoing process, undertaken as per requirement. Central Higher Education Institutions are envisaged as pace-setting institutions providing academic leadership in their regions. In Haryana, the Central University of Haryana is located in Mahendragarh district. Additionally, the state hosts other central institutions such as the Indian Institute of Information Technology (Sonepat), Indian Institute of Management

(Rohtak), and National Institute of Technology (Kurukshetra) etc. The current focus is on consolidating the higher education system by scaling up existing institutional capacity. As education is a concurrent subject, State Governments are also taking initiatives to improve access to higher education in their respective states.