Wasim Jaffer scores double ton in the second Test against Pak in Kolkata. AP

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NEW DELHI, JUNE 24:Increasing faculty salaries beyond the limits imposed by the Pay Commission, pushing for more public-private partnership in the education sector, ensuring almost a three-fold increase in higher education enrolment and reinforcing “global” brand equity of institutions of excellence. These are some of the key reforms on its table as the Oversight Committee works on the roadmap to implement the 27% OBC quota in Central institutions, said committee chairman Veerappa Moily.

Admitting that the nationwide protests against quotas was a “real conflict situation...a policy decision resisted by people,” Moily said that was the reason “we will have to (come up) with innovative ideas.’’

“I am not just going to fill (the) potholes but build a knowledge superhighway,’’ said Moily, in an interview to The Indian Express Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta on Walk the Talk programme broadcast on NDTV 24 X 7 tonight.

The current crisis triggered by the quota controversy could be used as “an occasion to take off...a golden opportunity...to liberate India from ignorance,’’ he said.

A month into the hot-seat, Moily, realising the difficulties in getting experienced faculty members as part of the infrastructure upgrade, suggested that faculty members could be offered attractive salaries, ‘‘not within the parameters of Pay Commission.’’

There is a precedent for this, Moily said, in Karnataka, where faculty are getting higher salaries.

When told that as per norms, everyone in the government has to draw lesser salaries than that of the Cabinet Secretary, Moily replied, ‘‘Not necessarily...Nothing is impossible, raise salaries to attract talent without affecting (the) parameters.’’

Finances shouldn’t be a problem, he indicated. ‘‘Money will be available, I have discussed it with PM, deputy chairman Planning Commission and Finance Secretary, they have said that money will be made available...I have met the HRD minister twice, he is also one with this idea,’’ he said.

Calling for public-private partnership in the education sector, Moily said the “Prime Minister and the HRD minister are open to the idea.’’ In fact, the PM has repeatedly called for more private sector participation in the upgrade and spread of higher-education institutions.

“Only 8 per cent (in India) go for the tertiary sector or college education in the country, whereas in Indonesia, it’s about 25 per cent. In the Tenth Five-year-plan, the target is 10 per cent, it may not happen. We should plan for 25 per cent in the Eleventh Plan,’’ he said.

Until this happens, Moily said, the dream of building

India into a knowledge society, as envisaged by President APJ Abdul Kalam, will remain just that, a dream.

Admitting it wasn’t part of his brief, Moily suggested rethinking the use of the word ‘‘reservation”. Suggesting it carried too much baggage and was loaded with a “negative connotation,” he said: “The modern generation is resistant to reservation...in US,

Europe, Western countries, it is called equal opportunities, affirmative action, diversity, plural country, inclusive society...time has come to change (our lexicon) from reservation.”

On the question of merit being compromised because of quotas, he said: “I introduced common entrance test (in Karnataka)...even reserved category (students)..they have to pass the same test. There is no lowering of standards, no difference in marks...the difference between a general category and a SC student is 1.5 to 2 per cent and between SC and Backward categories, the difference is 2 to 3 per cent.’’

When his attention was drawn to the massive number of students who knock on

IIT, IIM doors for the extremely limited number of seats (1.6 lakh for 1500 IIM seats),

Moily said: “Why should it happen? We have had an ancient civilisation, where the country is known for big universities like Nalanda. Every person who wants to have higher education, all of them (should) have access.’’ He cited the example of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which has 5,000 students, more engineering students than all IITs put together.

Asked what was his message to a restive young generation, Moily said: “The government will take care of you, everybody will have (their) space, don’t think someone will take away your space...your space is secure, rather you will have wider space.’’

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