The pressure on Human Resource Development (HRD) to deregulate education and free it from overdone government control would have mounted. The HRD’s biggest battle, in a sense, has been with the National Knowledge Commission (NKC). HRD Ministry-run delivery system-the issue of education reforms has reared its head again. In the NKC report is any indication, the Ministry bastion, is likely to come under assault one final time. India’s emergent human resource gap, economists have suggested, needs to be filled urgently and private sector participation is inevitable.

India’s gross enrolment ratio in higher education is never more than 11 per cent, compared to the world average of 23.2 per cent. The gross enrolment ratio is 36.5 per cent for countries in transition, 54.6 per cent for developed countries and 22 per cent for Asian countries. Higher education is the last survivor of the shortage economy, where everything was rationed and even per capita telephone availability was abysmally low. NKC chief Pitroda has made a point that for the crisis-if the government can’t do it alone, with its limited financial resources, with its limited financial resources, let it create opportunities for increased private participation. He also emphasized on the future of Indian education-in terms of equity, excellence and expansion and also felt the need to keep pace with radical changes taking place globally.

A new approach is also neces¬sary to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor, between urban and rural areas, in terms of access to higher education. The NKCs second report has said that the current 350 universities and 18,000 colleges are grossly inadequate for a population of 550 million young people. The Commission has set India an eventual, long-term goal of 1,500 universities to meet the challenge of training and preparing the country's teeming human capital for the 21st century. The issue of a regulatory authority had been raised in the NKCs first report in 2007. This was seen as necessary to distance universities from political influence.

Over the past two years, the NKCs recommendations have not influenced Union HRD Ministry policy-makers. Yet, Arjun Singh is unmoved. He has used ideological shibboleths to protect his empire, at one point reportedly telling the PMO that education cannot be left to market forces. The war between the HRD Ministry and the PMO can be expected to intensify in the coming weeks. Even so, the NKC dialogue with 18 state governments has proved very encouraging. The NKC has argued that these bodies worked better in a regulatory regime that focused on punitive actions rather than on nurturing institutions. As members of the NKC see it, the issue is simple enough: With the Manmohan Singh government close to its pre-election lame duck phase, can the NKCs hope be actualized? Well that is the question which will be only answered then. But for now, the HRD and the NKC need to be synchronized for the upliftment of education in the country leaving aside their political interests.