Lok Sabha Question No. 1080 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-12-17
Subject: Foreign Faculty Recruitment
Ministry: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Gurjeet Singh,Aujla

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1080 TO BE ANSWERED ON 17.12.2018

## Foreign Faculty Recruitment

1080. SHRI GURJEET SINGH AUJLA:

Will the Minister of HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has taken any decision to waive all prior security clearance requirements for foreign faculty recruitment across higher educational institutes in the country;
- (c) the steps taken by the Government for increasing Global Ranking of Indian Institutions/Universities?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (DR. SATYA PAL SINGH)

(a) to (c): The issue regarding liberalizing norms for appointment of foreign faculty has been taken up with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Ministry of External  Affairs  (MEA).    The  issue  was  further  discussed  in  a  meeting  with  the officers  of  the  MHA  and  MEA  pursuant  to  which  MHA  clarified  that  its  prior approval is required only when the faculty proposed to be appointed is from Prior Reference  Category  Countries  (Pakistan,  Afghanistan,  Iraq,  Sudan,  Foreigners  of Pakistani origin, and Stateless persons) and those required to visit restricted areas in  India.    MEA  clarified  that  no  prior  approval  from  them  will  be  required  as necessary due diligence will be done at the time of granting employment visa by the respective Missions. MHA has also allowed appointment of OCI Card holders as  teaching  faculty  in  Indian  Higher  Educational  Institutions  including  Indian Institutes  of  Technology  (IITs),  National  Institutes  of  Technology  (NITs),  Central Universities (CUs), Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs).

The  Government  is  continuously  striving  to  improve  the  ranking  of  Indian Universities  and  Institutions  by  providing  budgetary  support  for  improving  their academic infrastructure, policy interventions such as Study in India Programme (SIP) for increasing strength of  foreign  students,  Scheme  for  Promotion  of Academic and Research Collaboration (SPARC) for research collaboration with best Institutions  across  the  world,  Global  Initiative  for  Academic  Network  (GIAN) inviting  foreign  faculty  to  teach  courses,  Scheme  of  Institutions  of  Eminence  to create  world  class  infrastructure  as  well  as  to  give  greater  autonomy  to  the Institutions. In addition, Start-up India Initiatives in Higher Educational Institutions  (SIIHEI)  seeking  to  set  up  Research  Parks  for  industry-academia collaboration,  Impacting  Research  Innovation  and  Technology  (IMPRINT)  and Uchatar Avishkar Yojana (UAY) focussing research for the purpose of developing socially  relevant  and  industry-specific  technologies  in  identified  domains  have been launched to improve overall research eco-system in our educational institutions.

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- (b) if so, the details thereof; and