What is 1.3 billion divided by 289? That’s the number of Indians per medical college, a number so high it is almost criminal. In fact, government regulation over higher education is so stifling, the red tape so constricting, that the low number of medical colleges is only symptomatic of a larger malaise. Which is why Union Human Resource Minister Kapil Sibal’s novel attempts to inject autonomy and funds into our universities are so welcome; his attempts to simplify red tape will breathe life and private energy into a sector crying out for reform. Medical colleges, run by the Medical Council of

India, report to the health ministry, not to Sibal. But their recent moves to relax norms for setting up medical show that they are not isolated from the buzz in higher education.

Reducing the land requirement for medical colleges from 25 acres to 20 (and in some cases from 20 to 10) may sound innocuous. But in our crammed cities and towns such a measure will make it easier to set up colleges. The move will also help land-starved areas like in parts of the Northeast, where medical colleges are conspicuously absent. The third way in which this seemingly simple change has larger repercussions is in checking corruption. As emerging details of of corruption in the AICTE show, approvals for educational institutes have become a money spinner. Cutting down red tape will cut down the kickbacks.

Of course, the relaxation of some norms must not reduce the MCI’s oversight role. While the new rules must make it easier for entrepreneurs to set up colleges, it mustn’t lead to a relaxation of standards. That is the balancing act the MCI must perform.