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@article{204698,
        author = {Dr Sitamahalakshmi Kasturi},
        title = {The Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) and Higher Education Institutions (HEIs): A Critical Evaluation},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2026},
        volume = {13},
        number = {1},
        pages = {4151-4160},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=204698},
        abstract = {The Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA), launched in 2013 by the Ministry of Education, Government of India, represents a landmark Centrally Sponsored Scheme designed to drive comprehensive development and transformative reforms within the fragmented landscape of state-funded Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). Prior to RUSA, state HEIs often suffered from chronic underfunding, significant infrastructural deficits, and outdated governance structures, contributing to issues of low Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER), regional imbalances, and variable quality. This paper provides a critical evaluatory perspective on RUSA's implementation across its phases (RUSA 1.0 and 2.0), assessing its effectiveness in achieving its core mandate of improving Access, Equity, and Excellence in the sector.
The paper reveals substantial successes in areas targeted by strategic capital investment. Specifically, RUSA has acted as a powerful catalyst for physical infrastructure development, supporting the creation of new universities through the conversion of autonomous colleges and the establishment of new Model Degree Colleges in educationally underserved regions. This targeted expansion has played a quantifiable role in boosting the national GER. Furthermore, the scheme successfully enforced systemic structural reforms by making NAAC accreditation mandatory for funding eligibility, thereby institutionalizing quality assurance as a non-negotiable standard. The establishment of State Higher Education Councils (SHECs), another key requirement, created the necessary institutional framework for strategic planning, monitoring, and execution of reforms at the state level, replacing ad-hoc approaches with formalized governance structures.
However, the evaluation also highlights several critical challenges that limited the full realization of RUSA’s goals. Implementation was frequently plagued by administrative bottlenecks and delays in fund flow from state governments to the implementing HEIs, hindering project completion and expenditure efficiency. Crucially, while RUSA mandated a commitment to filling faculty vacancies, the persistent national challenge of faculty shortage and low teaching quality in state institutions was not adequately resolved. Moreover, achieving true institutional autonomy—a key objective for excellence—remained elusive, as state university acts and established bureaucratic practices often undermined the intended freedom in academic and financial decision-making.
The paper explores that RUSA’s lasting legacy is its success in mandating and funding systemic changes and infrastructure development, effectively raising the floor for quality and access across state HEIs. The lessons learned from RUSA’s evaluation, particularly regarding the need for sustained quality improvement and greater decentralization of power, have been instrumental in shaping the subsequent policies, including the new iteration of the scheme, the Pradhan Mantri Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (PM-USHA), which aligns with the vision of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. This analysis provides essential insights for future policymaking aimed at fostering a sustainable, equitable, and quality-driven higher education ecosystem in India.},
        keywords = {RUSA, PM-USHA, HEIs, Infrastructure, quality sustenance},
        month = {June},
        }