A high-level meeting on higher education reforms was held on Friday at Lok Bhawan, presided over by Governor-cum-Chancellor Syed Ata Hasnain. The meeting focused on improving academic quality in Bihar’s universities, strengthening administration, promoting research, and accelerating digital reforms.
Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary and Higher Education Minister Sanjay Singh also participated in the discussion. One of the key decisions taken at the meeting was the proposal to enact a new university law for Bihar.
Officials stated that the proposed legislation would incorporate best practices from central universities and universities in other states. A proposed framework is being drafted after reviewing the university laws of 15 states to create a simple, transparent, and contemporary regulatory system for higher education institutions in Bihar.
Consensus was reached on several new initiatives to encourage research and innovation, including the Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellowship, the Chief Minister’s Research Grant Scheme, and the Chief Minister’s Research Scholarship Scheme. These proposals aim to strengthen the research culture and provide financial assistance to scholars and researchers. The meeting also reviewed the implementation of the ‘Samarth’ digital platform across state universities.
Admissions are already being conducted through the portal. The Governor directed the universities to implement all 26 modules of the Samarth system by December 31, 2026. These modules cover areas such as admissions, academic management, employee services, finance and accounts, and administrative functions.
This move aims to enhance transparency, efficiency, and digital governance. Officials informed the meeting that a centralised recruitment process is being adopted to hire assistant professors on a contractual basis for 211 newly established government degree colleges.
The objective is to ensure the merit-based selection of qualified teachers and to improve academic standards within higher education institutions.
The objective is to ensure the merit-based selection of qualified teachers and to improve academic standards within higher education institutions. The government is planning to make faculty development mandatory. It will be compulsory for every higher education institution to organise at least one faculty development program annually. Teacher training centres established under the Madan Mohan Malaviya Teacher Training Scheme at Patna and Muzaffarpur universities are also being strengthened.
The meeting assessed the progress of implementing the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 in Bihar’s universities. Officials stated that academic programs are being redesigned in accordance with national standards, and it is expected that the syllabi for 43 post-graduate subjects will be approved by the first week of July.
The process of implementing digital initiatives such as INFLIBNET, APAAR, and the National Academic Depository is also being regularly monitored. Timelines for the transfer and promotion of teachers and university staff were also discussed during the meeting.
Governor Syed Ata Hasnain stated that the coordinated implementation of these measures would significantly strengthen transparency, accountability, digital governance, academic quality, and student-centric administration in Bihar’s universities. Senior officials attended the meeting, including Additional Chief Secretary Deepak Kumar Singh, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Deepak Kumar, Secretary Lokesh Kumar Singh, Director of Higher Education Prof. N.K. Agarwal, and officials from the Raj Bhavan Secretariat.
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