NEW DELHI, June 18 - Taking note of large scale migration of students from the Northeast to other parts of the country for higher education, the Centre has decided to augment the infrastructure facilities of 700 colleges in the region.
Briefing newsmen about the performance of his ministry on completion of four years of Modi government, HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said that the Northeast has been given priority under the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) programme. At least 700 colleges in the region have been selected where the laboratories will be upgraded, he said.
A Central scheme launched in 2013, RUSA aims at providing strategic funding to eligible higher educational institutions in the states. Under the scheme, the Central funding is 90:10 for special category states and it is norm-based and outcome-dependent.
The funding would flow from the Union ministry through the state governments to the state higher education councils before reaching the identified institutions, the minister said.
Meanwhile, the Northeast has the least privatised higher education sector and is almost entirely dependent on government-run or aided institutions, according to a study titled �Intergenerational and Regional Differentials in Higher Education in India�.
According to another study, �North East Migration and Challenges in National Capital Cities�, 314,850 people from Northeast India have migrated to mega cities in other parts of the country for higher studies and employment during the period from 2005 to 2009. While Delhi is the first choice for migration among the people from the Northeast, many of them also prefer Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asian countries for higher education.
