Our university initiative actually didn’t fail

By: Arjimand Hussain

(The writer is founder of Ziraat Times. He has worked in 16 countries, and specialises in international development and change management)

It was the year 2020. A passionate group of investors and educationists from J&K had joined hands to set up the state’s first private sector university. It looked like a dream project, with all the key elements necessary for an initiative like this on the drawing board – intellectual, real estate and financial resources.

I joined the group as an advisor, and, relatively, a modest investor. Usually, I am reluctant in joining Kashmir’s big-table initiatives for their penchant for excessive chatter, a general lack of democratic principles and craft for consensus. This group, in contrast, was impressive – they were all big achievers, highly-successful businessmen, accomplished academics, experienced civil servants and a former university vice chancellor, a woman, who was likely to be the university’s first vice chancellor. It was a unique blend of  right intent, resources and approach.

And it had the winning USP too – a land pool of 522 kanals, spread across Central, North and South Kashmir; three commercial buildings in Srinagar and South Kashmir, valued at Rs 217 crore, and, crucially, several hundred crore rupees of cash reserves. Therefore, there was no need for state land for the project.

There was another big plus with the project – a major Southeast Asia-based university had agreed for a partnership with this proposed university. Significantly, the university had an existing MoU with the Association of the Indian Universities (AIU), according a Mutual Recognition of Equivalence of the educational qualifications granted by the two countries.

Not just that. A distinguished group member had come up with an excellent idea: degrees would include cross-cultural learning through student exchange programs with the university’s campuses worldwide. A financial model for that was agreed upon, and a Letter of Intent (LoI) was signed with the university. The project was on a roll.

As the project’s advisor, my role was to lead a few negotiations, develop the Detailed Project Proposal (DPR), including a financial feasibility analysis, and an internal formula for shared ownership model.

In August 2020, we were invited for a formal presentation before a group of senior J&K government officials, tasked with evaluating the proposal. After I made the presentation, there was a flurry of questions which were adequately responded to. In the end, the officials were very excited about the whole plan and were extremely supportive in identifying and plugging the loose ends.

Interestingly, around the same time, two fine business leaders of Kashmir, were also planning to set up two additional private universities in J&K. Both these two gentlemen are highly accomplished businessmen, and possess the land and financial resources necessary for their projects. Incidentally, one of those business leaders is a good friend of mine, and he asked me to support him with technical advice for his project. It was exciting, and yet another great learning.

In the middle of all that, J&K got the new Lieutenant Governor – Manoj Sinha. Barely ten days into his new role, he invited the group over dinner at the Srinagar Raj Bhawan to discuss the project. Being an IITian, the Lieutenant Governor appreciated the technical focus of the project and was excited about the prospect of jobs it was creating in J&K. He directed his principal secretary to have a No-Objection Crtificate (NoC) issued for the project.

The group was aware, early on, that it would not be possible to establish a full-fledged university in the absence of a Private Universities Act in J&K. The offshore campus idea was technically not the same as establishing a new private university. Luckily, just then the National Education Policy had taken effect, and it provided a sound legal space for this arrangement.

After a few weeks, the NOC was granted (excluding the associated medical college), and we were now all set to engage with the University Grants Commission (UGC) for compliance related matters and sign a more detailed MoU with the overseas university. Eventually, the MoU was signed and the first franchise fees instalment was paid to the university after the necessary RBI approval.

Meanwhile, my businessman friend’s university project also got the administrative approval. But, in the absence of a Legislative Act in J&K for such private universities, his dream project just stalled.

And, then, also started a new roller coaster for our project too.

Our financial analyses suggested, a sustainable private university in J&K required the inclusion of a medical college. Without it, the institution’s revenue model would struggle to cover its high operational costs. Across India, private universities often rely on medical and allied health courses to generate revenue due to their high demand and relatively stable fee structures. A medical college required separate approval from the National Medical Commission (NMC), and our affiliation with a foreign university wouldn’t suffice.

Moreover, a medical college required a functional associated hospital too, which involved a far more complex set of challenges related to engagement of faculty, if not resources.

The university offered globally-recognized courses from emerging fields such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, aeronautical engineering, aircraft maintenance, mobile computing, bachelor of management (oil & gas) including an American Degree Transfer Programme. However, these courses, and a range of other courses offered by it, comparative analyses suggested, would not be able to generate the necessary resources for the sustainability of the institution. More so, because private universities in India must comply with state-mandated fee regulations, preventing institutions from charging market-driven tuition rates. While this is important to prevent exploitation, it left our project in limbo.

Despite the setbacks, I firmly believe that J&K needs a strong private higher education sector. But for any such future initiatives to succeed, certain key elements are essential.

First and foremost, J&K needs a Private Universities Act. The Act must provide a clear framework for approvals, governance and financial sustainability of private universities. However, those planning private sector universities in J&K must know that there is a big pushback from the existing public universities in J&K to the idea of a private university. That pushback has multiple operational implications.

Secondly, even as the number of medical seats has been raised manifold in J&K in recent years, the demand is still huge. The current Reservation Policy for medical college admissions is leaving a large number of students out of the ambit of government medical colleges. There has to be a way to secure affordable seats for them. Therefore, future private universities must be allowed to establish medical colleges and associated hospitals as well. And J&K government should facilitate NMC approvals to encourage investment.

Thirdly, it is extremely crucial that our future higher education models do not confine our youngsters behind the mountains of J&K’s valleys. I work in multiple countries on their youth upskilling programs, and, time and again, I learn the imperative of global citizenship skills for the youth to succeed in today’s globally-connected job market. For J&K’s youth to compete and flourish in multi-cultural, multi-racial and multi-religious work environments, they need greater exposure of diverse, scientific-minded and multi-cultural societies. Therefore, our future higher education models must not be J&K-centric.

Fourthly, any future university project must embody the basic democratic principles. As a society, J&K lacks an organic democratic culture. We have a long way to go in creating a society built on true democratic principles, diversity inclusion, consensus and listening skills. That means private institutions built on public ownership models, must have governing structures that represent J&K’s diverse social, religious and ethnic mosaic.

One of the key learnings of my wide travels across the world is that institutions founded on the bedrock of diversity and democratic principles of accommodation and critical thinking are more likely to produce men and women more prepared to compete and thrive in this highly competitive world.

Although our initiative didn’t take off, it was not a failure. It was a learning experience — one that exposed the regulatory and structural gaps in J&K’s private higher education sector. I am deeply grateful to all the passionate visionaries, part of the groups driving these private universities’ ideas, for making me part of these ventures. We invested immense time and effort into these projects, yet, all that was worth it.

The dream of establishing J&K’s first private university is still very much alive. However, let it be clear, such universities cannot be run on charity. They must be commercially viable. The question is: are we ready to make it happen the right way? I am not sure.