MULTIDISCIPLINARY EDUCATION AND RESEARCH IMPROVEMENT IN TECHNICAL EDUCATION (MERITE) Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP) July 19, 2022 (Revised Report) Department of Higher Education Ministry of Education (MoE) Government of India Table of Contents 1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Project Background and Development Objective ......................................................................... 1 1.2 Components of the Project ........................................................................................................... 1 1.3 Purpose & objective ...................................................................................................................... 2 2 Applicable Legal and Regulatory Framework........................................................................................ 4 2.1 World Bank’s Environmental and Social Standard on Stakeholder Engagement ......................... 4 3 Brief Summary of Key Stakeholder Meetings and Consultations during Project Preparation ............. 6 3.1 Key stakeholder meetings and consultations ............................................................................... 6 3.2 Key findings/suggestions from the Consultations with Key Stakeholders.................................... 8 4 Stakeholder identification and analysis and level of influence .......................................................... 11 4.1 Stakeholder mapping and analysis ............................................................................................. 11 4.2 Potential roles, interest, and influence of key stakeholders ...................................................... 11 4.3 Stakeholder Segmentation/ Prioritization .................................................................................. 14 4.4 Disadvantaged / Vulnerable Individuals or Groups .................................................................... 17 5 Stakeholder Engagement Program ..................................................................................................... 20 5.1 Information Disclosure................................................................................................................ 20 5.2 Framework for Citizen Engagement ........................................................................................... 20 5.3 Ways of Stakeholder Engagement .............................................................................................. 21 5.4 Review of Comments and closing of feedback loop ................................................................... 29 6 Roles, Responsibilities and Resources for Stakeholder Engagement ................................................. 30 6.1 Resources .................................................................................................................................... 30 6.2 Management functions and responsibilities .............................................................................. 31 7 Grievance Redress Mechanism ........................................................................................................... 33 7.1 Overview and Scope.................................................................................................................... 34 7.1.1 Communication & Awareness raising on GM. .................................................................... 34 7.1.2 Institutional arrangement for GR........................................................................................ 34 7.1.3 GR Monitoring and Reporting ............................................................................................. 35 7.1.4 Project tours for local representatives/others ................................................................... 35 7.1.5 Grievance Redress for Labor and Vulnerable Groups ......................................................... 35 7.1.6 GRM contact information – DHE......................................................................................... 36 8 Monitoring and Reporting .................................................................................................................. 37 9 Annexures ........................................................................................................................................... 40 9.1 Annex-1: Detailed report on the consultations .......................................................................... 40 9.1.1 Consultation with Advisory Groups .................................................................................... 40 9.1.2 Consultations with State Secretaries .................................................................................. 42 9.1.3 Consultations with Higher Education Bodies ...................................................................... 50 9.1.4 Consultations with Industry Experts ................................................................................... 51 9.1.5 List of advisory group members (theme wise).................................................................... 51 9.2 Annex 2: CTGRAMS grievance filing procedure .......................................................................... 53 List of Tables Table 3.1: Stakeholder Consultations during Project Preparation ............................................................... 6 Table 4.1: List of potential stakeholders ..................................................................................................... 12 Table 4.2: Responsibilities and Influence of Key Stakeholders ................................................................... 14 Table 4.3: Issues faced by Vulnerable groups ............................................................................................. 18 Table 5.1: Information Disclosure Mechanism ........................................................................................... 21 Table 5.2: Proposed Strategy for Stakeholder Engagement ....................................................................... 24 Table 6.1: Contact Information of DHE ....................................................................................................... 30 Table 6.2: Tentative budget for implementation of SEP ............................................................................ 30 Table 6.3: Roles and responsibilities of the Stakeholder Engagement Process ......................................... 31 Table 7.1: Grievance Management Matrix ................................................................................................. 35 Table 8.1: Monitoring and Evaluation of the Stakeholder Communication Strategy ................................. 37 List of Abbreviations Abbreviations Details AICTE All India Council for Technical Education BPL Below Poverty Line CoE Center of Excellence CPA Central Project Advisor/ head of Implementing Agency CRF Collaborative Research Fund CTGRAMS Centralized TEQIP Grievance Redress and Monitoring System DHE Department of Higher Education DIA Direct Area of Influence DST Department of Science and Technology EAP Equity Action Plan EIA Environmental Impact Assessment ESF Environment and Social Framework ESMF Environment and Social Management Framework ESMP Environmental Social Management Plan ESS Environmental and Social Standards EWS Economically- Weaker Section FGD Focus Group Discussions GBV Gender Based Violence GoI Government of India GRM Grievance Redress Mechanism GRO Grievance Redress Officer GRS Grievance Redress Service HEI Higher Education Institutes IIM Indian Institute of Management IIT Indian Institute of Technology IT Information Technology LMP Labor Management Procedure MERITE Multidisciplinary Education and Research Improvement in Technical Education MoEFCC Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change MoF Ministry of Finance NBA National Board of Accreditation NEP National Education Policy NGO Non-Governmental Organizations PAP Project Affected parties PDO Project Development Objective Ph.D. Doctor of Philosophy PWD Persons With Disability QA Quality Assurance QAA Quality Assurance cum Action RAP Resettlement Action Plan RPF Resettlement Policy Framework SC Scheduled Caste SEDG Socio-Economic Disadvantaged Groups SEP Stakeholder Engagement Plan ST Scheduled Tribe TEQIP Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme UGC University Grants Commission URN Unique Registration Number UT Union Territory WB World Bank 1 Introduction 1.1 Project Background and Development Objective The Government of India (GoI), through the Ministry of Finance (MoF), has requested the World Bank (WB) to support the preparation and implementation of the Multidisciplinary Education and Research Improvement in Technical Education (MERITE) project with the Department of Higher Education (DHE), Ministry of Education (MoE) as the lead implementing agency. The lead implementing agency, DHE, will be overall responsible for implementing the project activities, fiduciary management, and safeguard compliance for all the sub-components. The Project Implementing Agencies (selected states and engineering institutions, ATUs) will be implementing the sub-component/activities relevant to their respective areas/institutions under the overall management of the lead agency. The Project will support the modernization of the education sector through NEP 2020-aligned reforms and focuses on: (i) Enhancing the environment of education & research through course offerings, pedagogical practices & assessment, digitalization; (ii) Improving employability of engineering graduates by strengthening skills & entrepreneurship capabilities; (iii) Increasing equitable access with a focus on women and SEDGs; (iv) Strengthening sector steering through improvements in governance & quality assurance; (v) Enhancing ecosystem by supporting multidisciplinary institutions & programs. The Project Development Objective (PDO) for Multidisciplinary Education and Research Improvement in Technical Education project is to improve quality, equity, and governance in technical education in select states. 1.2 Components of the Project The MERITE project has three components. Component 1: Improving quality and equity in participating institutions. This component will focus on improving quality, employability, and equity in technical education in participating government and government-aided institutions in select states and will finance activities that contribute to achieving PDO indicators on improving student learning, increasing the share of programs accredited and improvements in transition rate of undergraduate engineering. This has three subcomponents: Sub-Component 1.1 Strengthening institutions to enhance student skills and employability; Sub-Component 1.2 Promoting equitable access; and Sub- Component 1.3 Promoting multidisciplinary education. Component 2: Improving research for better skills, entrepreneurship and innovation. This component will support better research and innovation outcomes via competitive funding for research and technology transfer, strengthening business incubators, seed funds to entrepreneurs from among faculty members, current students, or fresh graduates, and building an institutional entrepreneurship and innovation culture. The component will also focus on addressing barriers faced by women faculty in pursuing research and innovation opportunities and promote women faculty/student members to apply for research, technology transfer grants, and innovation seed funding. This has three subcomponents: Sub-Component 2.1 Competitive Research Fund (CRF) and Centers of Excellence (CoEs); Sub-Component 2.2 Developing Page |1 incubation and innovation eco-systems; and Sub-Component 2.3 Institutional research and innovation capacity building. Component 3: Sector steering, including governance and internal and external quality assurance. This component will address the quality assurance, good governance in the institutions, and overall technical assistance to the project by implementing agency. The component will support governance reforms such as the establishment and strengthening of Boards of Governors, including employers, the strengthening of internal QA, activities leading to an increased institutional autonomy and possibly the piloting of roadmaps towards graded autonomy for affiliated institutions. This has four subcomponents: Sub-Component 3.1 Quality assurance (QA); Sub-Component 3.2 Governance; Sub-Component 3.3 Leadership training and academic careers; and Sub-Component 3.4 Project management. Considering all project sub-components, it is clear that components 1 and 2, including subcomponents, will support the construction/ renovation of the existing blocks/buildings for enhancing the student learning environment in the premise of existing universities/technical institutions, which is likely to attract the attention of much more stakeholders. Renovation activities will not generate adverse environmental impacts or substantial risks to the human population, and the predictable effects are expected to be temporary, reversible, low in magnitude, and site-specific. Due to the nature of proposed works, associated environmental and social risks, and limited capacity of MoE in understanding and applying the Bank's ESF and relevant Standards, the project risk is classified as Moderate from an environmental and social perspective and as defined under the Bank's ESF. 1.3 Purpose & Objectives The Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education is the designated nodal agency under GoI to implement the MERITE project. This document, titled “Stakeholder Engagement Plan” (SEP), forms a part of the preparation of ESMF in accordance with the safeguard compliance requirements (ESS-10) of the Environmental and Social Framework (ESF), 2016 of the World Bank. The SEP will be a helpful tool for managing communications between DHE and its stakeholders for the Project. The ESS recognizes the importance of open and transparent engagement between the DHE and project stakeholders as an essential element of good international practices to improve the environmental and social sustainability of projects, enhance project acceptance, and make a significant contribution to successful project design and implementation. It seeks to define a culturally appropriate approach toward the disclosure of information. The prime objective of SEP is to improve and facilitate decision-making and create an atmosphere of understanding that actively involves likely project-affected people and other stakeholders on time and that these groups are provided sufficient opportunity to voice their opinions and concerns that may influence decisions in Project design. The SEP shall serve the purpose of: • understand the stakeholder engagement requirements of GoI and the participating state government legislation • guide stakeholder engagement • identify key stakeholders that are affected and/or able to influence the Project and its activities Page |2 • identify the most effective methods, timing, and structures through which to share project information, and ensure regular, accessible, transparent, and appropriate consultation • develop a stakeholder(s) engagement process that provides stakeholders with an opportunity to participate and influence project planning and design proactively • establish formal grievance/resolution mechanisms • define roles and responsibilities for the implementation of the SEP • define reporting and monitoring measures to ensure the effectiveness of the SEP and periodical reviews of the SEP based on findings. The SEP includes multiple channels and mechanisms of engaging with the stakeholders, including website, telephone, public consultations and meetings, participatory assessments and surveys, participatory planning, and existing channels of citizen engagement of the GoI. Differentiated measures will be adopted to engage with vulnerable and disadvantaged households, including focus group discussions, inclusive beneficiary identification in the cluster, and inclusion amongst beneficiary groups. Other project-related information will be shared with the primary stakeholders in locally understood languages where necessary. All safeguards related plans and documents will be disclosed on the project's websites. The term "project-affected parties" includes those likely to be affected by the project because of actual impacts or potential risks to their physical environment, health, security, cultural practices, well-being, or livelihoods. These stakeholders may include individuals or groups. The term "other interested parties" refers to individuals, groups, or organizations interested in the project, which may be because of the project location, characteristics, impacts, or public interest matters. For example, these parties may include regulators, government officials, the private sector, the scientific community, academics, unions, women's organizations, other civil society organizations, and cultural groups. Disadvantaged or vulnerable refers to those who may be more likely to be adversely affected by the project impacts and/or more limited than others in their ability to take advantage of a project's benefits. Such an individual/group is also more likely to be excluded from /unable to participate fully in the mainstream consultation process and, as such, may require specific measures and/or assistance to do so. Page |3 2 Applicable Legal and Regulatory Framework This SEP takes into account the existing institutional and regulatory framework within the context of the following GoI legal instruments as well as the safeguard compliance requirements of the Environmental and Social Framework (ESF), 2016 of the World Bank as mentioned below: • The Environmental Impact Assessment Notification (EIA), 2006 (including all amendments to date), notified by MoEFCC, GoI • The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 • The Right to Information Act 2005 • ESS 10: Stakeholder Engagement and Information Disclosure, ESF 2016, World Bank The Environmental Protection Laws mentioned above establish the right of citizens to live in a favorable environment and be protected from harmful environmental impacts. Citizens also have the right to environmental information, as well as to participate in developing, adopting, and implementing decisions related to environmental effects. The provisions of environmental law provide the assurances for a public hearing during project planning and ensure public discussion during implementations. Public representative bodies must take into consideration citizens' comments and suggestions. In the context of involuntary resettlement, the Land Acquisition Act, 2013 maintains the ethos and culture of public participation through social impact assessment. The Right to Information Act, 2005, provides for setting out the practical regime of right to information for citizens to secure access to information under public authorities' control to promote transparency and accountability in the working of every public authority. The ESS-10, Stakeholder engagement, and information disclosure mandates that stakeholder engagement is an inclusive process conducted throughout the project life cycle. 2.1 World Bank’s Environmental and Social Standard on Stakeholder Engagement The World Bank’s Environmental and Social Framework (ESF)’s Environmental and Social Standard (ESS) 10, “Stakeholder Engagement and Information Disclosure,” recognizes “the importance of open and transparent engagement between the Borrower and project stakeholders as an essential element of good international practice” (World Bank, 2017: 97). Expressly, the requirements set out by ESS10 are the following: • Borrowers will engage with stakeholders throughout the project life cycle, commencing such engagement as early as possible in the project development process and in a timeframe that enables meaningful consultations with stakeholders on project design. The nature, scope, and frequency of stakeholder engagement will be proportionate to the nature and scale of the project and its potential risks and impacts. • Borrowers will engage in meaningful consultations with all stakeholders. Borrowers will provide stakeholders with timely, relevant, understandable, and accessible information and consult with them culturally appropriate, free of manipulation, interference, coercion, discrimination, and intimidation. • As part of the environmental and social assessment, the Borrower will maintain and disclose a documented record of stakeholder engagement, including a description of Page |4 the stakeholders consulted, a summary of the feedback received, and a brief explanation of the input. The Project comprises minor construction/ refurbishment and institutional development, including reform aspects that involve a range of stakeholders. However, the exact location, states/institutions, and beneficiaries are yet to be decided by the Project; the purpose of the SEP at this stage is to set out the means and modes of engagement that shall guide the Project to engage with those stakeholders – currently on board and those who would come on board at a later stage. Decisions currently under consideration include: upgradation and construction of minor infrastructure, the extension of labs/rooms, upgradation of college corridors, maintenance of washrooms, etc., as stated in the description of component/sub-components. Hence, these aspects would require consultations of various kinds–consultations and FGDs with communities in the project areas, consultative meetings, feedback surveys with students/faculty, etc. The Project is also cognitive of the fact that there might be changes in the stakeholders as the Project progresses, and the Borrower must seek their views on the SEP, including on the identification of stakeholders and the proposals for future engagement. The SEP will be a living document, and in case of significant changes to the SEP, the Borrower must redisclose the updated SEP. Page |5 3 Brief Summary of Key Stakeholder Meetings and Consultations during Project Preparation 3.1 Key stakeholder meetings and consultations1 Although the SEP was still under development, the DHE Teams and the TSG consultants engaged in extensive consultations with several relevant stakeholders during the project preparation process, including the potential States//UTs and Department of Technical Education/ Science and Technology of participating States, and with representatives of select NGOs, particularly Infosys foundation. The objective of these consultations was to understand the scope of their participation and sectoral interventions under the Project and the potential social and environmental risks and issues involved. Since the focus of the Project is on technical education, the Project also broadly consulted concerned stakeholders, such as: All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), University Grants Commission (UGC), National Board of Accreditation (NBA), Principal Secretaries of States, Advisory Group committees consisting of personnel from IITs, IIMs, IIITs, management institutions, Industry, etc. The following types of stakeholder engagement activities have taken place to date: • Formal and informal communication with government agencies at the national, regional, and local levels • Formal and informal communication with subject matter specialists • Meetings/virtual discussions with potential beneficiaries The World Bank project team conducted consultative meetings in Delhi City with representatives of the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Finance, academicians, etc., in November 2021, in a hybrid mode (on account of COVID-related restrictions and access issues). Details about the consultations held with stakeholders of the program are presented below. The detailed report on all the consultations conducted during the project preparation is placed at Annex-1. The objectives of the meetings were as follows: • To discuss the pre-appraisal stage for the proposed MERITE Project and understand the key issues and concerns faced in the technical education system in India. • To present the key project parameters and scope. Table 3.1: Stakeholder Consultations during Project Preparation Month of Mode of Participant/s Key Issues/ Concerns Consultation Consultation AICTE March 2022 In-Person • Absence of robust student learning assessment. • Need for competitive research grants for institutions. • No provision for a graduate tracking system at institutes. 1 As the project states/institutions were not selected when the SEP/consultations were held, detailed consultations with the vulnerable groups, including students from the SC/ST/PWD and women could not occur. However, thorough consultations, including with vulnerable groups, will be organized during implementation. Page |6 Month of Mode of Participant/s Key Issues/ Concerns Consultation Consultation • Need for workshops on multidisciplinary, industry Ph.D., etc. UGC March 2022 In-Person • Guidelines for multidisciplinary, phasing out affiliation system, etc. are yet to be finalized. NBA March 2022 In-Person • Institute requires capacity building on outcome-based education. Advisory Hybrid • Inaccessible high-quality materials and Group 1 tools for students and faculties. • Teaching-learning, especially for remedial classes, should be conducted in Indian languages. • Absence of Mental health counselling for students. • Lack of robust digital infrastructure. Advisory Online • Absence of multidisciplinary courses for Group 2 achieving the NEP 2020 goals. • Absence of courses on Indian Traditional Knowledge. • Absence of Community projects for students. Advisory Hybrid • Absence of experiential learning and Group 3 internship in the curriculum. • No proper networking among industry, November research organisation and community. Advisory 2021- January Hybrid • Under-rated and low-quality outcomes in Group 4 2022 academic and research areas. • Urgent need to establish a graded unified program-wise accreditation system with the minimum benchmarks for each of the Institute. • Absence of quality assurance for online education. Advisory Online • Absence of incubation ecosystems at Group 5 institutions for nurturing start-ups. Advisory Online • Absence of BoG as per the AICTE/ UGC Group 6 norms. • Absence of good governance practices. Advisory Online • Absence of high-quality infrastructure for Group 7 women and PwD students. • Low enrolment of disadvantaged groups in institutions. • Less participation of female faculties in leadership positions Page |7 Month of Mode of Participant/s Key Issues/ Concerns Consultation Consultation State October 2021, Hybrid • Large numbers of faculty vacancies. Secretaries/ January 2022, • Sustainability of project measures. Directors March 2022 • Implementation of multidisciplinary (DST) education. • Implementing Digitalization, blended learning. • Revising the curricula as per the industry needs. • Implementation of entrepreneurship and incubation centers. • Equity and inclusion of tribal population. • Internationalization as per the NEP 2020. Industry March 2022 Online • Weak linkages between technical Experts institutions and industries. • Non-applicability of research done by the institute in industries. • Absence of industry exposure for faculties. 3.2 Key findings/suggestions from the Consultations with Key Stakeholders (i) Several states and UTs representatives mentioned that they have already started work on implementing some of the provisions of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. Several of them have formed Expert Committees to prepare implementation roadmaps for some of the recommendations in NEP. Some states and UTs have also started implementing some of the reforms which can be implemented at the state level. Some states have begun work on curriculum revision, and a few have also started engineering education in the vernacular medium of instruction. However, not all the states and UTs are at the same level regarding NEP implementation, with some of them are waiting for the central government to provide additional guidance. (ii) Most of the participating states and UTs recognized the substantive work done under TEQIP I, II, and III and praised their contribution to their states' lasting improvements in engineering education. Some states also expanded on the sustainability measures taken to continue the reform agenda post-closure of TEQIP- III. (iii) Most of the states and UTs identified multidisciplinary education as one of the critical reforms of NEP 2020 that they expect MERITE to support. Many of the representatives expressed the need for central regulators to develop guidelines for multidisciplinary programs to clarify aspects such as the extent of credits to be allowed outside of the central discipline area, credit transfer modalities, implementation arrangements, etc. Some representatives also requested awareness workshops on multidisciplinary education for the state and institute level leaders in higher and technical education. Many representatives also supported the need for a faculty development plan on this aspect. (iv) Several states and UTs identified blended learning, digitalization, and credit transfer as key levers to achieve several of the objectives of NEP 2020 and the proposed goals of the Page |8 project. They expect the central regulators to work on uniform guidelines and regulations on some of these aspects. (v) A need to have a relook at the curriculum concerning student choice, industry relevance, digital instruction, practical learning, etc., was also echoed by most states and UTs. (vi) Some more industrialized states expressed willingness and enthusiasm for entrepreneurship development and incubation. Some representatives also suggested relating incubation to the Centers of Excellence developed under TEQIP II and III. Some representatives suggested setting up quality prototyping facilities within CoEs or proposed incubation centers. (vii) Some of the low-income states requested mentoring support on faculty vacancy, faculty development, curriculum revision, and industry linkages. Significantly, some less industrialized states pointed to the lack of organic industry linkages and requested support for developing connections with industries elsewhere. (viii) Some of the smaller states and UTs, especially those under challenging geographies, emphasized the importance of mentoring support received during TEQIP III and requested the continuation of such activities. (ix) Given the capacity constraints, several representatives identified 'granting graded autonomy' as one of the most challenging reforms to implement. However, some representatives suggested that some of the older institutes with requisite infrastructure and reputation may be granted autonomy as a first step. (x) Some states requested to reconsider the non-participation of private institutes in the project as they account for a significant proportion of enrolments in technical education. (xi) Some states suggested having a component for improving some of the 'poorest' institutes to bring them to the 'medium' level. (xii) A couple of states with a high tribal population requested a focused approach on equity and inclusion of the tribal people in technical education. (xiii) A couple of more developed states requested clarity on regulatory provisions for inviting foreign universities to set up an educational campus in their state to promote internationalization. (xiv) The advisory group committee suggested the following interventions to be part of the project: • Provision of a national-level repository containing all the engineering course lectures and interactive laboratory experiments. • Provision of teaching-learning in the native language. • Holistic development opportunities for engineering students such as classes for Yoga, Prāṇāyāma, mental health topics, etc. • Systematic training of the academic community of the participating institutions in technical and professional communication. • Establishing Digital Infrastructure for modernizing teaching and learning in participating institutions. • Designing, developing, and offering multidisciplinary programs and courses • Bringing to the students the benefits of wisdom contained in the Indian Traditional Knowledge Systems • Encouraging students towards village and community engagement for improvement of lives and livelihoods in the rural communities Page |9 • Bringing into the curricula experiential learning and internship as mandatory components so that there is a greater connection for the students with the industry and the society • Networking of institutions with industry, research organization, and community. • Evolving Hierarchical and Inclusive (Internal, i.e., Intra-organization) Quality Assurance cum Action (Q-A-A) plan for participating universities and institutions towards culmination into the self-assessment (including Faculty Career Management, and internship and practical exposure for socially relevant orientation for students). • Establishing the Unified system (with consequential processes & criteria) for Award of Graded (i.e., Tier/Cadre/Level based) Program-wise Accreditation (G-P-A) to participating universities and institutions. • Promote a hybrid mode of teaching-learning practices (focusing on online education) and establish a mechanism for continuous assessment of quality in online education. • Develop ecosystems for incubation. • Gender and Social Friendly Educational Spaces. • Development of IT Tools for Disadvantaged Groups for Better Outcomes. • Empowering Disadvantaged Students for Active Participation in Classrooms and Labs, Especially Addressing the Language Barriers. • Promoting Enrolment of SEDGs And Female Students in Higher Education • Developing Women Faculty for Career Advancement and Leadership Positions. (xv) UGC suggested focusing on current plans and guidelines for multidisciplinary education, expanding autonomy and phasing out the affiliation system, digitalization, and graduate tracking. (xvi) NBA suggested that the project includes capacity-building on outcomes-based education to prepare institutes for accreditation and experienced mentors to handhold project institutes. (xvii) The AICTE expressed interest in supporting MERITE on activities related to competitive research grants and piloting a graduate tracking survey, and jointly organizing workshops on crucial reforms such as multidisciplinary, tenure-track system, industry Ph.D., etc. (xviii) The industry experts suggested that MERITE could support the establishment of research labs in project institutions with industry support to ensure that research coming out of academia is applied, collaborative with industry, and responsible for industry needs. (xix) The industry expert also reiterated the need to strengthen linkages with MSMEs and not just large industries in urban clusters and create incentives for faculty to build their industry exposure through internships and sabbaticals. P a g e | 10 4 Stakeholder Identification and Analysis 4.1 Stakeholder mapping and analysis ESS10 recognizes two broad categories of stakeholders: “Project-affected parties” or PAP and “Other Interested parties.” The PAP includes “those likely to be affected by the project because of actual impacts or potential risks to their physical environment, health, security, cultural practices, wellbeing, or livelihoods. These stakeholders may include individuals or groups, including local communities”. They are the individuals or households most likely to observe changes from the environmental and social impacts of the project. Details on the potential project stakeholders are described in Table: 4.1 below. • Project- Affected Parties - persons, groups, and other entities within the project area of influence that are directly influenced (actually or potentially) by the project and/or have been identified as most susceptible to change associated with the project and who need to be closely engaged in identifying impacts and their significance, as well as in decision-making on mitigation and management measures. PAP include Vulnerable Groups – persons who may be disproportionately impacted or further disadvantaged by the project(s) as compared with any other groups due to their vulnerable status, and that may require special engagement efforts to ensure their equal representation in the consultation and decision-making process associated with the project(s). • Vulnerable People - Persons who may be disproportionately impacted or further disadvantaged by the project(s) compared with other groups due to their vulnerable status2 may require special engagement efforts to ensure equal representation in the consultation and decision-making process associated with the project. • Other Interested Parties - Individuals/groups/entities that may not experience direct impacts from the Project but who consider or perceive their interests as being affected by the Project and/or who could affect the Project and the process of its implementation in some way. Engagement with all identified stakeholders will help ensure the most significant possible contribution from the stakeholder parties toward the successful implementation of the project and will enable the project to draw on their pre-existing expertise, networks, and agendas. It will also facilitate both the community’s and institutional endorsement of the project by various parties. Access to the local knowledge and experience also becomes possible through the active involvement of stakeholders. 4.2 Potential roles, interest, and influence of key stakeholders The project is expected to directly benefit (approximate numbers): • 22 lakh UG students by the project end, who will enroll in the technical colleges part of the MERITE. This includes 5 lakh females, 3 lakh SC/ST, and 6 thousand PWD students. • 2 lalh PG students by the project end, who will enroll in the technical colleges part of the MERITE. This includes 50 thousand females and 18 thousand SC/ST students. The number 2 Vulnerable status may stem from an individual’s or group’s race, national, ethnic or social origin, color, gender, language, religion, political or other opinions, property, age, culture, literacy, sickness, physical or mental disability, poverty or economic disadvantage, and dependence on unique natural resources. P a g e | 11 of PWD students at the PG could not be established; this will be updated through the project life cycle. • 15,000 college teachers directly or indirectly associated with the project, who will be trained in various technical areas designed to upgrade their subject content knowledge to bring it in line with the market demand standards and topics, and on didactics and pedagogical methods for improved student learning, including the use of digital tools for teaching and student assessments. The project will focus on developing academic leaders, with a particular emphasis on female leaders. Indirect beneficiaries are expected to include: • 1000000 teachers and students (at non-target colleges), who will gain access to the strengthened training programs provided by the IITs/NITs and to digital content developed under the project and made accessible online. • The parents and household members of students in the where the target colleges are located. Government counterparts and associated entities will benefit from the project; these include: (i) at the central level - the Ministry of Education; Technical Support Group, MERITE, AICTE, UGC, NBA; (ii) at the state and local level - DST (Dept of Science and Technology), State level TSG; Affiliated Technical Universities, and participating colleges. Vulnerable groups. This will include students from the SC/ST/PWD/rural areas/EWS category/children of the migrant/construction workers, female students, and faculty. Table 4.1: List of Potential Stakeholders Stakeholder Group/s Interest in Engagement Administrative body Legislative and executive authorities. Functions of supervision and monitoring of Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Education University Grants Will guide the MERITE on the guidelines for multidisciplinary education, Commission expansion of autonomy and phasing out the affiliation system, digitalization and graduate tracking Project-affected Directly (positively) affected parties are: parties • Public Universities/institutions, faculty members, professors, researchers, non-teaching staff, administrators, students, female students at both undergraduate and graduate levels. • TSG-MERITE, AICTE, UGC, NBA • Local students and researchers as the project will strengthen employability of the graduates (modernized curricula, soft and digital literacy skills, strengthen interaction among employer, graduates and institutions) and research collaboration with industries will enhance opportunities to participate in research programs • Faculties, Staff of the institutions, Employers, Incubators P a g e | 12 Stakeholder Group/s Interest in Engagement Direct (adversely) affected parties: Local land users and other local population • Potential affected population (including the non-titled holders and the Vulnerable Groups) households, communities and business and other entities that are located within the Project Direct Area of Influence (DIA). Environment • Those areas located within the Project’s footprint or area of dis turbance. Other interested • International institutions/students may find the project interesting and parties may like to collaborate • Suppliers and vendor - Up gradation of laboratories, equipment’s, construction works, etc. • Business community/entrepreneurs including different chamber of commerce and industries, corporate bodies and MNCs • IT vendors (digital education demand) • Business community /entrepreneurs including different chamber of commerce and industries, corporate bodies and MNCs • Different women organizations in the project may be highly interested with the project as during the implementation and operational stage, there may be issues of GBV and employment of local women in the project • Nearby medical and health facilities need to be informed about project activities as individuals related to project activities may need medical help during the life cycle of the project. This is especially relevant due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Media and Mass Communication • Intermediaries for informing the general public about the planned activities of the project developer and for information disclosure in connection with the proposed the MERITE project NGOs • Represents the interests of different interested parties and vulnerable groups Vulnerable Women3 The most vulnerable women include: • Children of single women-headed households and widows • Women with physical disabilities • Girls and adolescents impacted by the project construction • Women who might face harassment or GBV etc. at home or from the migrant workers as a byproduct of the project implementation • Elderly and disabled women who are jobless and dependent on children whose homestead/ business may be adversely affected owing to the project, mainly due to civil construction • Women who may lose their livelihoods due to the project 3 Applies to both students and faculty P a g e | 13 Stakeholder Group/s Interest in Engagement People with Disability. • People with some form of physical disability • People of different age groups and gender whose physical and mental disability forces them to depend on their children/ relatives/others. When these groups' livelihood is adversely affected by the project looking for an alternative livelihood, these disabled persons are also indirectly and severely affected. • Students from transgender community • Students from EWS/BPL families 4.3 Stakeholder Segmentation/ Prioritization The identified project stakeholders were segregated by their areas of influence. The stakeholders of with their levels of influence are described in table 4.2 below. Table 4.2: Responsibilities and Influence of Key Stakeholders Stakeholder Level Roles & Responsibilities of Stakeholder Interest Influence Ministry of National  Provides administrative oversight and High High Education coordination for project; Lead in stakeholder engagement and consultations; Lead in complaints and grievance redress. Ministry of Finance National  Provide oversight and control of High High disbursement project funds to the implementing agency. Monitor compliance of financial reporting of project funds by the implementing agency All India council for National  Granting approval for the extension of High High Technical existing institutes, the launch of new Education (AICTE) courses, and continuation of approval after a break-in preceding the academic year.  Granting approval for setting up new technical institutions in India that offer technical education courses.  Granting permission to change a technical institute's site or location.  Initiating the process of closure of the technical institute if the respective institute applies for the same.  Approving the institutes that want to convert to Co-Ed from Women's Institute and vice-versa. P a g e | 14 Stakeholder Level Roles & Responsibilities of Stakeholder Interest Influence  Granting approval to increase intake/ addition of new courses in the first/ regular shift in the existing institutions.  Providing model curriculum to the institutions. University Grants National  Promoting and coordinating university High High Commission (UGC) education.  Determining and maintaining standards of teaching, examination, and research in universities.  Framing regulations on minimum standards of education.  Monitoring developments in collegiate and university education; disbursing grants to the universities and colleges.  Serving as a vital link between the Union and State governments and institutions of higher learning.  Advising the Central and State governments on the measures necessary to improve university education.  Providing autonomy to the eligible institutions. National Board of National  To assess and accredit the technical High High Accreditation (NBA) education programs  To evolve standards and parameters for assessment and accreditation in line with the parameters laid down by the appropriate statutory regulatory authority for coordination, determination and regulation of standards in the concerned field of technical education  To promote excellence through a benchmarking process, which helps determine whether or not an institution can achieve its mission and broad-based goals, and in interpreting the results of the outcomes assessment process  To promote a quality-conscious system of technical education where excellence, relevance to market needs, and participation by all stakeholders are prime and significant determinants  To build a technical education system as a facilitator of human resources that will match the national goals of growth by competence, contribution to the economy P a g e | 15 Stakeholder Level Roles & Responsibilities of Stakeholder Interest Influence through competitiveness, and compatibility with societal development  To set the quality benchmarks targeted at the global and national stockpile of human capital in all fields of technical education  To evaluate self-assessment of technical institutions and/or programs offered by them based on guidelines, norms, and standards specified by it  To contribute to the domain of knowledge in quality parameters, assessment, and evaluation. NGOs4 National /  Oversee implementation of human rights Medium Medium State policies, incl. students, and access to education  Safeguarding policy and referral pathway strengthen guidance counsellors. State Secretaries/ State  To guide the state government on High High Directors (DST) education policies.  To decide state education agenda and plan accordingly.  To inspect and supervise the work of government and private educational institutes.  To develop qualitative education as per the needs of the nation.  To provide grants to the educational institutes.  To use the sanctioned amount from the state government budget for educational activities.  To sanction the educational laws and policies. Universities State  Grants affiliation to the institutes based High Moderate on inspection of technical colleges to ensure that they comply with regulatory guidelines.  Managing admissions and examinations.  Setting and revising the curricula.  Granting degrees. Institutions State  Implementation of state interventions. High Moderate 4 The project has identified the Infosys foundation as the potential partner; going forward, more NGOs in the education sector will be explored meaningful consultations will be ensured. P a g e | 16 Stakeholder Level Roles & Responsibilities of Stakeholder Interest Influence  Implementation of project interventions for students and faculties.  Necessary information disclosure to the stakeholders  Documenting and disseminating the best practices to the key stakeholders Faculties Institute  Career development and training. High Low  Implement the interventions and provide feedback.  Assisting vulnerable students.  Create a safe, inclusive, and enriching environment for the students to benefit from the project. Students Institute  Direct beneficiaries of Project High Low interventions linked to the labor market and from improved technical, employability and entrepreneurial skills.  Feedback on project interventions, to inform/refine project supported interventions and improve implementation performance, evaluations of blended learning interventions, and interventions to improve student adjustment (behavioral nudges, for example) and equitable access. Local contractors Institute  Renovation and construction of High Medium participating universitates/institutions infrastructure (lavatories, classrooms, laboratories, digital infrastructure) Parents Institute  Quality of teaching and learning High Medium Individuals Institute  Individuals with disabilities willing their High Low (parents) or children to be enrolled in children with universities/colleges. Or student with disabilities disabilities. Population living in Institute  Due to geographical location of these High Low inaccessible areas/ communities, they may lack information Community of about the selection process and may ethnic have an exclusion risk. minorities (if any) 4.4 Disadvantaged / Vulnerable Individuals or Groups During Project preparation and implementation process, particular attention will be paid to adverse impacts on vulnerable/disadvantaged groups who, because of their social position, may be susceptible to changes brought about by project activities or excluded from project benefits. P a g e | 17 As the social assessment shows, there are the following vulnerable and disadvantaged groups: − students/faculty from the SC/ST/PWD groups, below the poverty line and remittance-dependent households; individuals (parents) or children with disabilities; students/children of external labor migrants and children of internal migrants; populations living in inaccessible areas; population living in border areas; communities of ethnic minorities as the selection process may have an exclusion risk. Table 4.3 summarizes the primary issues faced by the vulnerable groups. Table 4.3: Issues faced by Vulnerable groups Vulnerable Groups Issues Faced Students including SC/ST  Poor representation in engineering education – SC/ST adds up to 11 and Rural categories and 3 percent respectively of UG engineering student  Weak academic preparedness prior to entering technical education  Poor math and English comprehension skills - difficulty in adjusting to the college environment; lack self-confidence due to poor communicative abilities in English  Lack of awareness about various scholarships, schemes, and job opportunities – inability to apply for scholarship timely.  Inadequate student support service at the school level information on programs, associated jobs and wages, and a lack of counselling services to enable students make post-secondary education choices  Lack of institutional support: - ineffective monitoring of student performance - Inadequate hostel facilities - Lack of/inadequate remedial solutions based on student’s requirements - Lack of quality faculty to train for GATE and other exit exams - Lack of industry exposure - hands-on-experience, particularly in terms of visits to industry - Lack of good placement counselling services - Lack of trainings in market skills which affects employability  Lack of feedback from students, including SC/ST students, regarding various interventions implemented by the institute. PwD students  Physical Inaccessibility - Lack of ramps and/or elevators in multi-level buildings, heavy doors, inaccessible washrooms, inaccessible classrooms; and/or unavailable transportation to and from institution  Accommodation Process - Lack of or delay in the provision of special education programs and services  Lack of Individualization - Suspension and expulsion policies are at times rigidly applied and do not take into account a student’s circumstances  Negative Attitudes and Stereotypes P a g e | 18 Vulnerable Groups Issues Faced - Lack of knowledge about and sensitivity to disability issues on the part of some educators, staff, and students can make it difficult for students with disabilities to access educational services  The other challenges include: - Moving away from home - Understanding and working through the transfer process - Securing financial support - Adjusting to differences in the disabled student services offered as many of the higher educational institutions do not have relevant support services about specific disabilities  Lack of consultations/feedback with PwD students regarding various interventions implemented in the institute Female students  Lack of technical institutions for higher education in the peri-urban areas  Gender stereotyping (engineering considered to be a “He” STEM, with a firm male-dominated culture)  Lack of female role models  Lack of convenient services - infrastructure and resources- toilets with sanitary provisions  Physical safety during the commute to college/university  Sexual and other types of harassment in colleges/universities·  Lack of appropriate job placement support and social norms  Insufficient and lack of gender-disaggregated facilities in the institutions  Weak labor market orientation of programs Inadequate industry- facing opportunities and weak placement support  Parents influence, peer influence in schools  Institutional arrangements – active/functional GRM, sexual harassment committees and information to students about these  Lack of feedback from girl students regarding various interventions implemented by the institute. To ensure the participation of vulnerable groups during the project design and implementation stages through public consultations, more information dissemination through the TSG, States, and Institutions safeguards nodal is needed. Further, the project's communication, engagement, and GRM strategy will ensure that these groups are regularly consulted and can efficiently partake in several project-related activities and interventions. P a g e | 19 5 Stakeholder Engagement Program 5.1 Information Disclosure The final draft of the Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP) will be re-disclosed on the projects website and shared with all the States and Universities as well as the targeted Institutions. The SEP will be disclosed and publicly accessible throughout project implementation period. All updated versions will also be re-posted on the project portal, as well as electronic copies of the ESMF/ESMPs, LMP, RPF/RAP, EAP, Gender/GBV Action Plan, will be placed on the project website. This will allow stakeholders with access to the Internet to view information about the planned development and to initiate their involvement in the public consultation process. MERITE will use various methods of engagement that will be used by the implementing agencies as part of their continuous interaction with the stakeholders. The method of engagement will be constantly reviewed or its appropriateness, outreach and impact, as well as inclusivity. Distributions of the disclosure materials will be made available at venues and locations frequented by the primary beneficiaries and places to which the public have unhindered access. Free printed copies of the ESMF/ESMPs and the SEP (along with the other E&S documents) in English and executive summary of these documents in Hindi will be made accessible to the general public at the following locations: • DHE/TSG, PIU Office • Technical Support Groups, State level • Offices of the Participating Universities and Institutions • Information centers and exhibitions or other visual displays (university/college) • Other designated public locations to ensure wide dissemination of the materials Ensuring the participation of vulnerable individuals and groups in project consultations will require the implementation of tailored techniques. The vulnerable groups identified by the project include the SC/ST/EWS/Rural population, people living with disabilities and women. Attention will be given to the vulnerable groups to ensure that they are not denied project benefits. This will be done by focus group discussions, monitoring participation rates, undertaking beneficiary assessments/feedback, using online platforms to allow access to otherwise disadvantaged groups, and ensuring that at least 30% of participant are females. The table 5.1 below summarizes the variety of methods that would be used for information disclosure to reach all the key stakeholders. A summary description of the engagement methods and techniques that will be applied by project developer is provided below (Table 5.1). The summary presents a variety of approaches to facilitate the processes of information provision, information feedback as well as participation and consultation. 5.2 Framework for Citizen Engagement Unlike traditional types of engagement – Communication and Consultation, Citizen Engagement is an interactive two-way process that encourages participation, exchange of ideas, and flow of conversation. It reflects the willingness to share information and make citizens a partner in decision-making. Active engagement gives the right to hold others accountable, and P a g e | 20 accountability is the process of engaging in participation. It seeks greater accountability from the service providers through increased dialogue, consultation, and monitoring and assessing performance externally and mutually. 5.3 Ways of Stakeholder Engagement Stakeholder engagement activities will provide stakeholder groups with relevant information and opportunities to voice their views on issues that matter to them/affect them. The table below presents the stakeholder engagement activities that DTE will undertake for the project. The activity types and frequency are adapted to the project cycle: project preparation (including design, procurement of contractors and supplies); implementation; and post-implementation operation and maintenance. Following the Bank’s guidelines during the COVID-19 situation and given the incidence of reoccurrence of infection and positive cases, which may again impose restrictions on public gatherings and meetings, nuanced planning would be necessary to ensure that stakeholder engagement and consultation activities fully comply with local COVID-19 behavior protocols enabling meaningful communication, consultation, and discussion. The methods used would vary considering the COVID-19 situation, as applied, according to the target audience and would include: • Public/community meetings • Separate meetings for women and vulnerable • Face-to-face meetings • Focus Group Discussions/Key Informant Interviews • Workshop with the Experts • Surveys, polls, etc. • Interviewing stakeholders and relevant organizations • Joint assessments • Mass/social media communication (as needed) • Disclosure of written information: brochures, posters, flyers, website Table 5.1: Information Disclosure Mechanism Process Mechanism Correspondences • Distribute Project brief/information to Government officials, TSG - States, (Phone, Emails) NGOs, Local Government, and organizations/agencies • Invite stakeholders to meetings and follow-up One-on-one meetings • Seeking views and opinions • Enable stakeholders to speak freely about sensitive issues • Build personal relationships • Record meetings Formal meetings • Present the Project information to a group of stakeholders • Allow the group to comment – opinions and views • Build impersonal relations with high-level stakeholders • Disseminate technical information (as required) P a g e | 21 Process Mechanism • Record discussions Public meetings • Present Project information to a large group of stakeholders, especially primary beneficiaries (students and faculty) • Allow the group to provide their views and opinions • Build a relationship with the beneficiaries, especially those impacted • Distribute non-technical information (as required) • Facilitate meetings with presentations, PowerPoint, posters, etc. • Record discussions, comments, and questions. Focus group • Present Project information to a group of stakeholders meetings • Allow stakeholders to provide their views on targeted baseline information • Build relationships with communities • Record responses Project website and • Present project information and progress updates disclosure • Disclose ESMF, ESMP, RAP, SEP, EAP, Contract Progress, RAP Implementation progress, Grievances and redresses of Grievances, and other relevant project documentation. Direct communication • Share information on the timing of commencement of civil works with people • Agree to options for removing and relocating fences/structures, e.g., sheds, if applicable. Road signs • Share information on project activities • Reminders of potential impacts (e.g., for possible landslides, road clearance activities) Project leaflet • Brief project information to provide regular update • Site-specific project information. • Information on disruption of water supply etc. Issues to consider while planning stakeholder engagement. • For which project activities consultation/engagement is critical and cannot be postponed without significantly impacting project timelines? The level of proposed direct engagement with stakeholders, including location & size of proposed gatherings, frequency of meeting, categories of stakeholders (international, national, local), etc.? • What is the risk of the virus transmission for these engagements, and how restrictions that are in effect in the country/project area would affect the engagements? • Which protocols and permissions must be obtained from local/concerned authorities for carrying out consultations or other forms of engagement? • What is the level of ICT penetration among key stakeholder groups, and which communication channels can be effectively used in the local conditions? General principles for stakeholder engagement during COVID-19 • Be sure that all task team and PIU members have a good understanding of social behavior and good hygiene practices and that any stakeholder engagement events be preceded with the procedure of articulating such hygienic practices. P a g e | 22 • Avoid public gatherings (including federal restrictions), including public hearings, workshops, and community meetings, and minimize direct interaction between project agencies and beneficiaries / affected people. • If smaller meetings are permitted, conduct consultations in small-group sessions, such as focus group meetings. • Where direct engagement with project-affected people or beneficiaries is necessary and cannot be postponed, identify channels for direct communication via a context- specific combination of email messages, mail, online platforms, and dedicated phone lines with knowledgeable operators. • If physical meetings are not permitted, diversify means of communication and consider which communication channels are applicable in the local context. Rely on local engagement partners to understand which media local community members use in this nonnormal situation to determine which mechanisms can be used to reach the right audience. List out both ICT-based and non-ICT approaches that suit local conditions. P a g e | 23 Table 5.2: Proposed Strategy for Stakeholder Engagement Stakeholder Means of Location/ Objective List of Information to be Disclosed Responsibility Group Communication frequency AICTE Setting policy and ▪ Project discussion and ▪ Official internal and Regularly DHE/ MERITE guidelines, coordination necessary support under the external TSG Team meetings, and approvals project component- 1 and 2 communications ▪ Process of selection of ▪ Monitoring, progress Ensure a good two-way beneficiaries (universities, flow of project information reports, face to- face institutions, competitive meetings, virtual and and promote ownership research grants, etc.) over subproject activities offline. ▪ Strategies for improving student ▪ Semi-annual meetings Ensure understanding of learning assessment robust ▪ Area/topics for curriculum of the project project impacts, outcomes, ▪ Missions revision to make it demand and outputs, and the driven importance of safeguards ▪ Activities to be undertaken and implementation, among trainings to be provided on others successful implementation of crucial reforms- multidisciplinary, tenure-track system, industry PhD, etc. UGC Strategy discussion ▪ Development of guidelines on ▪ Consultative meetings Regularly DHE/ MERITE multidisciplinary education ▪ One-to-one meeting TSG Team Ensure a good two-way ▪ Expansion of autonomy and ▪ Workshops/ flow of project information phasing out affiliation systems. consultations and promote ownership over subproject activities ▪ Making digitalization strategy ▪ Missions effective and successful Ensure understanding of ▪ Graduate Tracking system in project impacts, outcomes, collaboration with international and outputs, and the experts. importance of safeguards implementation, among others NBA NBA participation and ▪ Accreditation ▪ Consultative meetings Regularly DHE/ MERITE partnership for effective ▪ One-to-one meeting TSG Team and timely discussion and P a g e | 24 Stakeholder Means of Location/ Objective List of Information to be Disclosed Responsibility Group Communication frequency implementation of project ▪ Capacity building on outcome- ▪ Workshops/ activities, including policy based education consultations discussion on accreditation ▪ Technical Assistance on cluster ▪ Telephone, email, and TA. accreditation of PG programs online letter, social media, etc. DST (Dept of Agreement on the ▪ Project information: scope and ▪ Policy Guidance and From the DHE/ MERITE Science and institutional arrangements rationale and E&S principles Approvals: Semi- outset of the TSG Team Technology) for project implementation, ▪ Implementation of NEP 2020 annual meetings of project and including safeguards ▪ Implementation of MERITE the project (executing) regularly compliance project committee to provide throughout the ▪ Faculty Recruitment direction on project project implementation lifetime. ▪ Performance of project matters. institutions on results ▪ Reviews of periodic frameworks progress reports and ▪ Implementation of any special reports. Multidisciplinary education ▪ Regular coordination ▪ Digitalization, Blended Learning meeting for detail ▪ Revision of Curriculum design of construction ▪ Development of and civil works, and Entrepreneurship and implementation of Incubators project activities. ▪ Establishments of Centre of ▪ Regular flow and Excellence sharing of ▪ Graded Autonomy documentation. ▪ Formats and simple ▪ Internationalization chart (s) showing ▪ Training on ESMF/ESMP responsibilities for requirements and other sub- project management plans implementation, flow ▪ Worker grievance redressal of funds, flow of mechanism activities, monitoring ▪ Institutional arrangements for and follow-up. Safeguards implementation ▪ Project website ESMF, including SEP, EAP, ▪ Field visits ESMP, RFP, LMP, etc. ▪ Missions P a g e | 25 Stakeholder Means of Location/ Objective List of Information to be Disclosed Responsibility Group Communication frequency Safeguards Ensure a good two-way ▪ Direct and indirect beneficiaries ▪ Public/consultative During the TSG, State Nodal, TSG, flow of project information of project; partners in meetings/ Face-to- detailed Safeguards States and promote ownership development activities face / Workshops/ design of Nodal, over subproject activities ▪ Implementation of MERITE consultations/ subprojects facilitated by Safeguards and project seminars / Field visits TSG, PIU Nodal, Ensure meaningful preparation consultation for complete ▪ Performance of project ▪ Project plans (ESMP, Safeguards Institutions activities institutions on results RP/RF, EAP, LMP, Team understanding and frameworks SEP), land taking Quarterly acceptance of the project ▪ Institutional arrangements for procedures, impacts, follow-up and related environmental Safeguards implementation GRM throughout the and social/ resettlement ESMF, including SEP, EAP, ▪ Project description, project impacts, entitlements, and environmental and lifecycle GRM channels ESMP, RFP, LMP, etc. social impacts and ▪ Performance audit indicators Strategy discussion for the mitigation plans ▪ Compliance requirements and ▪ Activities during inclusion of women, poor monitoring of safeguards project preparation and vulnerable implementation - LMP/ EAP/ and implementation. households, IPs/ minority groups (where applicable) SEP/ ESMP ▪ Meeting with project- ▪ Reporting & Monitoring project beneficiaries ▪ Capacity building of universities and PAPs (if any) and institutions ▪ Project PID, i.e., posters, public notices. ▪ Executive Summary of the ESMF (translated to the local language) posted in university/ institution ▪ GRM channels and contact persons ▪ Sustained and regular engagement with communities P a g e | 26 Stakeholder Means of Location/ Objective List of Information to be Disclosed Responsibility Group Communication frequency Faculties Ensure meaningful ▪ Direct project beneficiaries ▪ Emails/ Phone calls/ Bi-annual TSG, State consultation for complete ▪ Local authorities participating in Official Safeguards understanding and the implementation and follow- correspondence Nodal, acceptance of the project up of subprojects ▪ Information desks facilitated by and related environmental ▪ Faculty Development Programs ▪ Leaflets TSG, PIU and social/ resettlement ▪ Faculty Appraisal System ▪ Posters, brochures, Safeguards impacts, entitlements, and ▪ Feedback on Grievance handouts Team GRM channels Redress Mechanism Students Direct project beneficiaries; ▪ Feedbacks on various ▪ Regular meetings and During the TSG, State local authorities interventions implemented discussions (both detailed Safeguards participating in the under the project. mixed gender and design of Nodal, implementation and follow- ▪ Details of how and where to women's meetings) to subprojects, facilitated by up of subprojects; register feedback and monitor progress and including civil TSG, PIU beneficiaries of identified complaints and feedback on discuss measures to works, and Safeguards institutions; participants in enhance project throughout the Team Grievance Redress Mechanism MERITE activities; benefits and mitigate implementatio ▪ Information on project scope, participants in technical risks. n of the design elements, and ▪ Field visits and other training, participation mechanisms. project. workshops, and research ▪ One-to-one meeting ▪ Feedback for effective ▪ FGD programs, etc. participation and guidelines for ▪ Survey / feedback capacity building needs with forms support from safeguards nodal to ensure they are inclusive, with equal representatives of vulnerable. Other Interested Interest in the project; ▪ Grievance redressal ▪ Grievance redressal As needed TSG, PIU Parties potential beneficiaries mechanism process mechanism Safeguards (External) ▪ Issues of concern ▪ DHE / TSG, States Team ▪ Press and ▪ Status and compliance reports website media ▪ Face-to-face meetings ▪ NGOs ▪ Submission of reports ▪ Employers / as required Industry ▪ Workers' organizations P a g e | 27 Stakeholder Means of Location/ Objective List of Information to be Disclosed Responsibility Group Communication frequency ▪ Academic institutions ▪ Local Government Departments, Local Leadership ▪ General public P a g e | 28 5.4 Review of Comments and closing of feedback loop The comments will be gathered (written and oral comments) and reviewed, and the project management will take necessary actions on the feedback/comments. To close the feedback loop, these follow-up actions by the project will be reported back to stakeholders through the following process: • Comments are received from stakeholders orally or in written form at the project level. • The responsible Officer would summarize the comments and bring them to the notice of the CPA, MERITE, DHE. • The CPA would respond to the comments by oral or written means at the project level (If the comments are in the written form, then the answer will also be in the written form) • The CPA may also organize the meeting with respective stakeholders • If it is not solved by CPA, then it will be escalated to the Ministerial level (steering committee) • The responsible Officer will share the summary of the comments with stakeholders at every level. • A written record of all these will be kept and maintained and uploaded to the relevant website for easy access. In the existing project, DHE welcomes suggestions and comments from the stakeholders. Based on recommendations from the primary and secondary stakeholders, local people, and elected representatives, DHE would take necessary action to address the requests in all possible ways. P a g e | 29 6 Roles, Responsibilities and Resources for Stakeholder Engagement 6.1 Resources The management, coordination, and implementation of the SEP and its integral tasks will be the responsibility of dedicated team members within DHE PIU, its State offices, Contractors, and local subcontractors. The project will ensure the necessary logistics and budget to implement the SEP as discussed above. The contact information of DHE is given below: Table 6.1: Contact Information of DHE Description Contact details Organization/Company: DHE To: TSG-MERITE Unit Address: Copia Corporate Suites, 301-302, 3rd Floor, Plot No – 9, Jasola Vihar, New Delhi - 110025 E-mail: merite.moe@gmail.com Website: Telephone: 011-26941003 A tentative budget for implementing the SEP over five years is attached in Table 6.2. The stakeholder engagement activities featured below cover various environmental and social issues. The table below summarizes all the stakeholder engagement activities. TSG-MERITE will review this plan every six months to determine if changes to stakeholder classification or engagement are required. If so, the plan will be updated, and a new revision will be distributed. The budget will be revised accordingly. Table 6.2: Tentative budget for implementation of SEP Activity Tentative Budget (Rs) Focus group meetings/community consultations/ Sensitization meeting 10,00,000 Project website and disclosure in newspapers/social media, etc. 5,00,000 Maintaining Grievance Redress Mechanism (CTGRAMS) 8,00,000 Publications in local language/Information/ communication materials - 15,00,000 Pamphlets, booklets, short films etc. Awareness raising workshop/training 10,00,000 Satisfaction survey (employer and student) – 3 rounds 75,00,000 GBV and GRM related activities and dissemination related expenditures 5,00,000 Contingency (5%) 6,40,000 TOTAL 13,440,000 P a g e | 30 6.2 Management functions and responsibilities The stakeholder engagement activities will be incorporated into the project management system with the formation of the PIU, where the Environmental Specialists and Social Development Specialists (also responsible for the management of the labor & community health, GBV Management, and stakeholder engagement and communications activities) will assist the DHE and the CPA in implementing the activities. Table 6.3: Roles and responsibilities of the Stakeholder Engagement Process Actor Responsibilities MoE and TSG- ▪ The PIU will be responsible for the preparation and physical implementation MERITE of the project ▪ Planning and implementation of the SEP ▪ Leading stakeholder engagement activities- organize regular meetings with stakeholders ▪ The CPA would oversee the activities of the Project Social Development Specialist and monitor the ongoing activities ▪ Management and resolution of grievances ▪ Coordination/supervision of contractors on ESCP and SEP activities ▪ Monitoring of and reporting on social performance to GoI and the World Bank ▪ Activities will be posted with a photograph for the information of relevant stakeholders Senior Social ▪ Develop, implement and monitor all stakeholder engagement Development strategies/plans for the Project, with special attention to vulnerable groups. Specialist, PIU ▪ Coordinate, communicate and monitor implementation of SEP activities by other stakeholders. ▪ Quarterly reporting on SEP and the GRM to the WB ▪ Oversee all stakeholder engagement related activities for the Project ▪ Manage the Grievance redressal mechanism ▪ Interact with related and complementary support activities that require ad hoc or intensive stakeholder engagement ▪ Liaise with the CPA/DHE to ensure that stakeholder engagement requirements/ protocols are understood ▪ Proactively identify stakeholders, project risks and opportunities and inform the CPA to ensure that the necessary planning can be done to either mitigate risk or exploit opportunities ▪ Undertake periodic review meetings to assess the progress of the project and take course corrective actions, in consultation with the World Bank ▪ Supervise and support communication and information dissemination to all PAPs and other stakeholders, with special attention to vulnerable groups ▪ Keep CPA posted on all matters relating SE ▪ Guide/handhold institutions during civil works Social ▪ Support to Social Specialist to oversee all stakeholder engagement related Development activities for the Project Specialist, PIU ▪ In consultation with the CPA and Senior Social Development Specialist, P a g e | 31 Actor Responsibilities o Coordinate and supervise institutions/ universities on carrying out SEP activities in adherence to the World Bank guidelines. o Management of engagement activities during the construction phase- supervision/monitoring of contractor o Supervise and facilitate stakeholder survey and manage feedback o Sensitize beneficiaries about the multi-level GRM o Monitor and report on social performance to the World Bank DST ▪ Conduct consultations, trainings, surveys, and other activities to ensure community participation and involvement during various stages of the project preparation and implementation ▪ Ensure each of the vulnerable groups' voices are adequately represented in discussions and committees established under the project ▪ Undertake regular feedback from faculties and students and relay the same to the TSG-MERITE. ▪ Inform PIU of any issues related to their engagement with stakeholders ▪ Provide report on all complaints to the PIU GRM Focal Point ▪ Transmit and resolve complaints caused by the project interventions in close collaboration with and as directed by PIU and through the project’s GR system ▪ Disclose and implement various plans (e.g., SEP, Labor Management Plan, etc.) ▪ Engage with NGOs and CSOs to develop targeted forums and platforms to voice the opinions/suggestions and address concerns of at-risk and vulnerable groups. Universities and ▪ Disclose all relevant and important information to key stakeholders, using Institutions appropriate modes of communication and applicable languages. ▪ Facilitate consultations, trainings, surveys, and other activities to ensure faculty and student participation and involvement. ▪ Provide input in developing effective interventions suited to the unique needs of vulnerable groups identified. ▪ Create a safe, inclusive, and enriching environment for students and handle complaints and incidences of bullying, violence, and harassment in a fair and transparent manner. Faculties and Students ▪ Attending, voicing opinions, and providing suggestions for effective implementation of the project. ▪ Support in implementing the Equity Action Plan. ▪ Support M&E activities conducted at the institute level. ▪ Lodge their grievances using the GRM. ▪ Provide honest and accurate responses to surveys and feedback to strengthen the project for effective and successful achievement of outcomes. P a g e | 32 7 Grievance Redress Mechanism Grievance Mechanism (GM) is a valuable tool that allows affected people to voice concerns regarding the environmental and social, among other, impacts of any project's activities. Considering the overall need for the total project period, MERITE will establish a GM to address complaints and grievances. Based on consensus, the procedure will help resolve issues/conflicts amicably and quickly, saving the aggrieved persons from resorting to expensive, time-consuming legal actions. However, the mechanism will not bar an aggrieved person from going to law courts. MoE, with past experiences of working with the Bank, has developed an effective GM that is worked well in the preceding project. The GRM and related processes will be sensitized during the orientation of all PIU and other staff in all IAs. Details of the GRM and procedures to be followed during the MERITE implementation are discussed in the below. ▪ The purpose of the GRM is to record and address any complaints that may arise during the life cycle of the project period effectively and efficiently. The GRM is designed to address concerns and complaints promptly and transparently with no impact (cost, discrimination) on any reports made by project-affected people and the other complainants. ▪ The GRM works within existing social management & resettlement frameworks, providing an additional opportunity to resolve grievances at the local, project, operations, and the apex, DHE level. Necessary signposting/billboards would be placed at the central places/places where people gather to share detailed information about the GR. There will be a three-tier grievance redress mechanism; 1st at the institute level, 2nd the TSG and State level, and the final one would be at the national (DHE) level. ▪ The GM Brochure will be distributed among the affected persons before the project implementation starts. The affected persons and their communities will be informed of the project’s grievance redress mechanism in open meetings at important locations and in group meetings. ▪ The project beneficiaries will also be briefed on the scope of the GRM, the procedure for lodging grievances cases, and the method of grievance resolution at the project level. ▪ Complaints can be received at any tier; however, it is strongly recommended that the affected/aggrieved (particularly students and faculty, contractors) reach out to the first/immediate tier. ▪ District Office of the project. ▪ A complaint Box would be kept at prime locations (colleges, hostels, TSG, State and National level) for ease of submission of complaints. ▪ GRO, TSG, State would make periodic visits to the sites and interact with the communities and affected persons to pick up concerns, complaints, and suggestions to register with the GRM books. ▪ It would be ensured that all cases at the local level will be heard within two weeks (15 days) of their receipt. ▪ It would be further ensured that grievances received through any channel are registered and notification of receipt with the assurance of necessary review and resolution given in writing to the aggrieved persons. P a g e | 33 ▪ For the ease and convenience of the PAPs and others interested in the project, DHE would widely disseminate channels for communicating Grievances. 7.1 Overview and Scope. CTGRAMS (Centralized TEQIP Grievance Redress and Monitoring System) is a platform based on web technology that primarily aims to enable the submission of grievances by the aggrieved beneficiary from anywhere and anytime (24x7) basis to MoE/TSG-MERITE, which scrutinizes and take action for speedy and favorable redress of these grievances. The portal was launched in August 2019 under the TEQIP-III project and was well-received by all the project-affected people and others. A system-generated unique registration number (URN) also facilitates grievances tracking on CTGRAMS. With the auto-escalation feature, i.e., non-redressal/no action at any tier within 10-15 days, the complaint/ grievance gets auto-forwarded to the next level, and project- related monitoring becomes more efficient. MERITE will follow the existing CTGRAMS three-tier GR system. The GR portal will enable the project stakeholders and beneficiaries to submit complaints/queries through in-person, written, and e-mails, phone calls, and text messages. All grievances received from affected parties will be registered in an online document and/or a logbook (ensuring restricted access) available at all three tiers (national, state and institute), tracked, and assessed for progress on resolutions. At the final stage, each complainant shall be informed about the results of the investigations and the actions taken. As a complementary intervention, the project will develop a robust communication strategy designed to reach out to direct project beneficiaries and stakeholders regularly with information and project-related updates digitally. The project will also conduct annual students' and parents' satisfaction surveys (using stratified sampling) on a sample basis to directly inform the engagement mechanism during implementation. Further, the project will also establish a complimentary web page for the primary GRM to address on-campus violence, harassment/GBV, and bullying complaints5. All the tiers will be adequately staffed, and regular training in handling complaints, including GBV-related, will be organized. The Details of the CTGRAMS on filing the complaints are presented in Annex-2. 7.1.1 Communication & Awareness raising on GM. The final processes and procedures for the GM will be translated into the national language and in select regional languages (i.e., Hindi) and disseminated at all project locations. These shall be made available (in a leaflet and poster format) to all project locations, i.e., SPIUs and participating institutions. 7.1.2 Institutional arrangement for GR Each institute/ ATU will appoint a GRO (Grievance Redress Officer), preferably a senior-level faculty (Professor/ Associate Professor), with prior experience in similar activities or as a student counselor. The details of the GRO, the procedure to submit the grievance, and the expected 5 A subsection on complaints related to GBV (accessed only to select authorized people, to ensure confidentiality); this page will not be disclosed on the project’s page. P a g e | 34 timeline, will be published on the institute's website and posted at different campus locations for wide dissemination. Table 7.1 presents the GR system along with the escalation timeframe. Table 7.1: Grievance Management Matrix Time for Grievance Level Responsibility Mode of Grievances provided consideration of grievance 1st Level: Institute Level GRO Online, Offline via phone, email, 15 days register. 1st Level: GRO Online, Offline via phone, email, 15 days ATU Level register. 2nd Level: GRO (Dedicated Online, Offline via phone, email, 15 days State Implementation Unit Consultant) post 3rd Level: GRO/ CPA Online, Offline via phone, email, 15 days TSG-MERITE post 7.1.3 GR Monitoring and Reporting The functioning of the GRM will be monitored by the Senior Social Specialist in the central PIU and by the CPA. The status and function of the GRM will be electronically documented and shared by the Sr. Social Spl., PIU, through periodic reports and review meetings. Regular GRM Review Meetings will be held and chaired by the CPA; the Social Expert of the PIU will convene these meetings. The Specialist will also be responsible for presenting the status of all matters/ grievances received during the last quarter/month and the action taken to resolve them. The GRM mechanism will be notified to the public and stakeholders within the first six months of project effectiveness. The project website will post the status of the GRM status periodically the website of the project. 7.1.4 Project tours for local representatives/others At appropriate points during the construction phase, site visits or demonstration tours will be organized for select institutions from the stakeholders from NGOs/civil society organizations or local government. On average, it is estimated that 2-4 such tours will be planned per year. 7.1.5 Grievance Redress for Labor and Vulnerable Groups If an aggrieved person is not satisfied with the results of Grievance Redress by the project grievance redress mechanism, such a person can approach the Courts, under the laws of the Concerned State and India, and the verdicts of the Courts will be final, as per the judicial processes established in of the state/country. In general, the legal system is accessible to all such aggrieved persons. However, there might be cases where vulnerable sections face hurdles in accessing the legal recourse system. These hurdles usually include the cost of litigation, knowledge about the legal system, or the lack of awareness about formal legal procedures. To help citizens access the legal recourse system, each State has an operational mechanism called P a g e | 35 the Legal Aid Centre, which provides free services, including services of lawyers, without any cost to the litigants. The social specialist of PIU will engage with the State Legal Aid Centre to provide such services to the aggrieved persons. As part of the partnership, the project will reimburse all additional costs to the State Legal Aid Centers. This facilitation will be available to the aggrieved person(s) if they fulfill the following two conditions: (1) that such aggrieved person(s) belong to any of the following vulnerable sections of the society - below poverty line families, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes; or is disabled, handicapped, orphaned or destitute person; and (2) such a person or persons those who have exhausted the provisions of GRM. 7.1.6 GRM contact information – DHE Information on the project and future stakeholder engagement programs will be available on the project’s website and will be posted on information boards in the project. The point of contact regarding the stakeholder engagement program at DHE is given below: Description Contact details Company: DHE To: Head of TSG-MERITE Project Address: Copia Corporate Suites, 301-302, 3rd Floor, Plot No – 9, Jasola Vihar, New Delhi - 110025 E-mail: merite.moe@gmail.com Telephone: 011-26941003 P a g e | 36 8 Monitoring and Reporting M&E of the stakeholder process is considered vital to ensure that DHE can respond to identified issues and alter the schedule and nature of engagement activities to make them more effective. Formal and informal monitoring will be ongoing, whereas evaluation will be undertaken periodically for feedback and lessons on what works and what does not. It is also essential to recognize the need to communicate with broader audiences of stakeholders, as levels of interest may fluctuate during the project cycle. The project mandates the involvement of the stakeholders in monitoring, and it will be carried out to ensure that the mitigation plans are regularly and effectively implemented. The Safeguards Nodal, TSG-State level will be providing regular updates on the implementation of the SEP based on information received from universities and institutions and endorsed by the Safeguards Team, TSG-PIU. The SEP will be periodically revised and updated as necessary in the course of project implementation to ensure that the information presented herein is consistent and is the most recent and that the identified stakeholders and methods of engagement remain appropriate and adequate to the project context and specific stages of the implementation and given the ongoing spread of COVID 19. Any major changes to the project-related activities and schedule will be duly reflected in the SEP. Table 8.1 presents a sample of the monitoring indicators to be monitored – the list is tentative and must be updated from time to time. Table 8.1: Monitoring and Evaluation of the Stakeholder Communication Strategy Performance Indicators Means of Verification A. Input–Output Indicators The number of stakeholder groups (including Attendance sheets (with sex and vulnerability groups of students, faculty, and non-teaching disaggregated information) of the projects’ staff) that participated in project design activities with stakeholders, along with details on discussions. This information on the date, venue, date, venue, and topic of discussion. and topics of discussion will be captured. Number of stakeholder groups (including students Collated and analyzed answers of participants ’ and faculty, non-teaching staff) that reported evaluation forms, administered at the end of each adequate information on the project project semester with stakeholders design/elements and implementation The number of participants (disaggregated by structure/framework gender and vulnerability). Number of stakeholder groups (including groups Satisfaction survey report. of students, faculty, non-teaching staff, employer, industry people, etc.) that expressed satisfaction with their participation in project activities Early identification and resolution of potential Project reports; GRM response sheet; MIS problems before escalation through the grievance database on the number of complaints received, mechanisms or complaints to WB’s Accountability resolved, and closed timely. Mechanism P a g e | 37 Performance Indicators Means of Verification B. Outcome Indicators Incremental jobs/placements ensured by project Project reports, MIS, Number of students with interventions, disaggregated by gender and secured placements/internships vulnerability Number of students that secured competitive Project reports, MIS research grants by the project (Amount -INR)- disaggregated by gender and vulnerability Industry (new) linkages established with the Project reports, MIS support of the project (Number) Beneficiaries who are aware of the market Project reports, MIS demand – cutting edge technology and able to transition to job markets - disaggregated by gender and vulnerability- SC/ST) Number of stakeholder groups (including groups Collated and analyzed answers of participants’ of students, faculty and non-teaching staff) that evaluation forms, administered at the end of each expressed support for the project (with a baseline year with stakeholders of MERITE at project start) Degree to which people’s expectations were met Pre-and post-project survey/ satisfaction reports Degree to which stakeholder feedback is Pre-and post-project survey addressed and incorporated C. Impact Indicators Percentage increase in number of students Pre-and post-project survey considered vulnerable6 in the project institutions Percentage of institutions with improved market Pre-and post-project survey linkages/ incremental number of students transitioning to job markets due to improved curriculum/ better infrastructure, etc. Percentage of institutions securing a ‘satisfactory’ Pre-and post-project survey rating in implementing the safeguard, particularly EAP/SEP and LMP (performance rating/ranking) Review of Engagement Activities in the Field Progress Reports by Implementing Agency The main instrument for reporting on SEP implementation will be the Bi-annual ESF implementation progress report, which would cover the implementation of the ESMF, ESCP, and SEP. The biannual report will be based on regular monthly and quarterly updates from the states and institutions, and these will include public grievances, inquiries, and related incidents, together with the status of implementation of associated corrective/preventative. These periodic updates will provide a mechanism for assessing both the number and the nature of complaints and requests for information, along with the Project’s ability to address those in a timely and effective manner. The Project will be using newsletters and communication campaigns/products on the 6 Students from SC/ST/Women/PWD/EWS/BPL/Transgender students, etc. will be collected annually. P a g e | 38 GRM and the SEP status. The bi-annual and annual reports will be disclosed on the Project website. The SEP update will cover key indicators related to stakeholder meetings, state/college meetings, grievances received and resolved, inquiries received, participation of vulnerable people in project activities, stakeholder-facing events, and publications. Quarterly E&S Compliance Reports to the World Bank Quarterly Environment & Social Safeguards reports will be prepared and submitted to the World Bank during the project implementation period. Among other aspects required to be covered in line with the Environment and Social Framework, a section on Stakeholder Engagement will be included in these reports, including an update on implementing this Stakeholder Engagement Plan. P a g e | 39 9 Annexures 9.1 Annex-1: Detailed report on the consultations 9.1.1 Consultation with Advisory Groups An advisory group committee, consisting of people from various eminent institutions, namely, IITs, IIITs, IIMs, Science Education and Research institutions, representatives from UGC and former members of the education foundations, etc., was formed by the Ministry of Education for each focus area mentioned in the NEP 2020. MoE started the detailed consultations with Advisory groups in November 2021 to finalize the design and description of the MERITE project (details on the advisory group members are available below 9.1.5). The expectations from the Advisory group or, equivalently, the terms of reference, were as follows: • To identify the activities relevant to the theme assigned to the Advisory Group, to achieve goals of NEP 2020. • To develop design note for each activity/intervention under the theme. • To formulate key strategic initiatives and recommend operational details, for implementation of the intervention Seven key areas were identified for the advisory group to suggest the interventions. The theme-wise interventions finalized are mentioned below: Theme 1: Modernizing Teaching, Learning and Assessment Process • Teaching learning in native languages and enhancement of communication skills of students • Content creation (digital / in print) in Indian languages for the courses taught in engineering degree programs • Holistic Developmental opportunities for students in Science, Engineering and Technological Institutes • to create Career Guidance Units (CGUs), Entrepreneur Development Cells (EDCs), Life Work Balance programs, Blended clubs of various types and Prāṇāyāma Yoga Centers (PYCs) for 360 degrees development of students. • Life work balance programs for students and faculty members towards achieving stress- management objectives in hectic professional workflows. • Blended clubs of various types for students and faculty members for pursuing interests in sports, arts, performing arts etc. • Fostering the growth and development of technical student clubs, with incubation of such activities and their support in the institutional framework. • Student support centres for mental health • Career guidance: assessment of the capabilities of the student, to guide the student properly in the choice of long-term career and occupation. • Setting up mechanisms for dealing with the difficulties faced with the medium of instruction: making it possible to teach in local languages. • Participation of students in creating quality content • MERITE repository for interactive Laboratory experiments • Remotely located students will get access to standardized instructors and laboratory setups P a g e | 40 • Institutes with weaker infrastructure will get the desired boost, thus making the setup socially inclusive • Establishing the Digital Infrastructure for Modernizing Teaching & Learning in the Participating Institutions & Encouraging Innovation & Enhancement • Identifying all the set-up that is required for successful teacher-student interaction, association, delivery of content, transfer of knowledge and skills and creation of lasting resources for continued learning. Theme 2: Holistic Multidisciplinary Education • Bringing into the curricula, experiential learning and internship as mandatory components, so that there is a greater connect for the students with the industry and the society • Creating learning resources in Indian languages • Faculty development for teaching in Indian languages • workshops and online courses in Indian languages and literature should be offered on a continuous basis Theme 3: Enhancing Employability Skills/ Industry readiness • Facilitate each student to apply and seek internship for 6 months in industry of choice and availability • A 2-day workshop is organized for all interning students, to educate them about their relationship with the big picture (i.e., company, economy and society) and leadership roles a student can play during the career growth path • At most 20% faculty should be on such industry sabbaticals in an academic unit Theme 4: Quality Assurance • Training & incentives for teachers for content creation, digital repository for online education and dissemination • To encourage, motivate and facilitate students to engage into summer internships, to undertake socially relevant and industry-sponsored projects, community engagements, etc., with relevant activity report and its impact analysis. • Assessment of infrastructure (existing as well as procured under the project) in the institute to support online education, through procurement audits. • Training faculties to create digital content, digital delivery, design evaluation tools for online courses • Training the faculty to design online evaluation methods beyond MCQ based examination, like multifaceted Theme 5: R & D, Start-up and Incubation • Establishment of skill and Maker’s labs for hands-on training and certification • Societal participation by inviting representatives from self-help groups, NGOs while working on technology transfer of the Technology solutions to address society’s needs. • Guest lectures or alumni talks by industry experts for strategic advice and bringing in skills which are not available internally Theme 6: Effective Governance • Centralized data collection and analysis of the data to be made for improvement. • ERP for students, faculty and other staff members • Alumni tracking and engagement P a g e | 41 Theme 7: Equity and Inclusion • Gender and Social Friendly Educational Spaces. • Development of IT Tools for Disadvantaged Groups for Better Outcomes. • Empowering Disadvantaged Students for Active Participation in Classrooms and Labs, Especially Addressing the Language Barriers. • Promoting Enrolment of SEDGs And Female Students in Higher Education • Developing Women Faculty for Career Advancement and Leadership Positions. 9.1.2 Consultations with State Secretaries Andhra Pradesh • Higher Education Planning Board has been established in the state and 5 regional cluster groups have been formed under the Board. • The State has established a State Research Board for promoting research and innovation. • Govt has mandated assessment and accreditation by NAAC within 3 years and a Quality Assurance Cell has been established at state level to handhold institutions for assessment and accreditation by NAAC. • 556 Entrepreneurship, Incubation, and Start-up Centers (EISC) have been established in the state. • Complete fee waiver for SEDGs resulting in significant improvement in GER especially SC and girl students. • 4-year UG programmes with exit option at 3 years have been implemented. • Skill enhancement courses have been incorporated in CBCS (Choice based credit system) framework. • The state has introduced major-minor courses in engineering including interdisciplinary, art, dance etc. as minor. • The State has introduced 25 market-oriented B.Tech. and 67 B.VoC. programmes. • The State has introduced 5-year integrated PG with exit options at 3rd, 4th, and 5th year. • The urban-rural digital divide is huge. Blended learning and flipped classroom can’t be done unless digital access is provided. The State Govt. is giving laptop to each student with parental income less than 2.5 lakh per annum. • LMS systems have been developed by state govt. and content can be pushed very easily. • The state proposes to convert 3 TUs and 4 general universities to Multidisciplinary Education and Research Universities (MERU). Strategic plans have been prepared, but funding support will be required. • For remaining 10 state universities, the state estimates an average requirement of INR 50cr grant each to improve infrastructure. • The State plans to develop bilingual e-content for students as they are not satisfied with the content on NPTEL, Coursera etc. For this, the State requires support to establish studios. • The state requires support for State level Quality Assessment Cell (SLQAC) that can assess institutes on NAAC parameters. • The State has proposed 10-month mandatory internship out of which 2 months should be mandatory community service. Assam • State has budgeted for digitalization and incubation and 5 colleges are to be upgraded as autonomous colleges. It will require atleast three-year period to achieve that. P a g e | 42 • State is planning to formulate policies for incubation and entrepreneurial development. Arunachal Pradesh • No State Govt. engineering college. • The state requested for upgradation of polytechnic institute into degree level institutions along with implementation of the scheme in polytechnics also. Bihar • The state submitted that in TEQIP-3 they had 7 engineering colleges and now there is one engineering college in each district which sums up to 38 government engineering college in Bihar. • A lot of work has been done on building infrastructure including setting up laboratories. • On the faculty front, the recruitment process through the State Service Commission is on- going and the faculties are expected to be in place by June 2022. • The state informed that the establishment of a new University is in process in the field of engineering. • The State has made a provision of reserving 33% of seats in all programs horizontally for women candidates which will address the equity in Bihar engineering institutes. • The state also requested for the need of intervention of industry partners and their collaboration with institutions. Chhattisgarh • The state informed that faculty shortage is a key concern apart from capacity building of teaching staff. • The state also stressed on the importance of offline training and informed that the implementation of NEP-2020 is going on in the State. Daman & Diu • The state showed their interest to be part of the pilot project under MERITE. Delhi • The state said that they have consulted Universities and they are willing to start multidisciplinary programs and would like to be part of the project. Haryana • The state showed their interest to be part of the project and will provide feedback to MoE after inter /intra-departmental discussions. Himachal Pradesh • The state told that they will be happy to be part of MERITE and requested to include polytechnics for the scheme. • The state enquired as to whether some of the PSUs like NTPC, NHPC, BSNL etc. can be roped in as industry partners for the institutions as most of the industries are concentrated at only one location in the State. Jharkhand • The state said that they are already working for NEP-2020. A committee has been constituted so that a roadmap could be in place and a cell has also been constituted for quality assurance. P a g e | 43 • The state further stated that they are ready for pilot project MERITE. Jammu & Kashmir • The State is working on accreditation of state institutions. • Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (SMVDU) has benefitted a lot from TEQIP support. It was unranked before TEQIP and has moved within top 100 and is ranked 79th now in NIRF. • One of the challenges with MOOC/NPTEL is mapping it with the curriculum. AICTE had made Coursera free for few months and during that period, 2000 certifications were done by students from SMVDU. But, as exams in Coursera is not proctored, steps are required to bring credibility as the content quality on Coursera is very good. • As large number of students have only a cell phone, asynchronous teaching can be a solution. • The state also stressed on industry partnerships for the benefit of students and discussed about carrying forward the credits of polytechnic students to engineering colleges. Karnataka • During the pandemic the state has implemented a large-scale digital initiative implementing LMS in government and aided higher education institutions. The LMS features e-content mapped to the state curriculum, the flexibility to add additional content and resources, formative assessments of student learning after each content module and teacher and institution-level functions for faculty scheduling. Future plans include rolling out a university management system linking all institutions in the state and expanding the LMS to technical education institutions. • The state has brought together 3 institutions with a view to share resources, offer students a broader range of educational options and systematize management and governance. The cluster university was set up with funding support under RUSA. Though academic operations have begun, there are implications for faculty and staff appointments under the newly set up university which are yet to be resolved. • The state indicated an interest in participating in MERITE and the possibility to take forward digitalization reforms and exploring further clusters of TEIs in keeping with NEP recommendations. The state leadership also indicated large infrastructure gaps in public institutions and for MERITE to support a range of public institutions to move them toward excellence. Kerala • Kerala’s technical education model is not about autonomy but about inclusiveness and quality and the first casualty of autonomy is inclusivity. If autonomy is one of the covenants, the State of Kerala may decide to not participate in the MERITE project. • Kerala has already started several interdisciplinary institutes/centers. • The State requested the project to provide funds for expanding UG technical education with a structure easy enough to cover all institutions including private institutes. • APJ Tech university of the state is also planning credit transfer from MOOCs. • Each institution in Kerala has an IQAC (Internal Quality Assurance Cell). Maharashtra • The state expressed keen interest in participating in MERITE implementing both, core reforms as well as taking forward pilots in a couple of areas. The state could potentially pilot reforms related to academic careers. The state proposed that career structure P a g e | 44 reforms could be piloted for 10% of incoming faculty in a given year and tested and iterated over the project period. There was also interest in exploring the possibility of implementing a system for graduate tracking leveraging the Digilocker and Aadhar systems for unique identities. • The state has recently established the Maharashtra State Faculty Development Agency which will spearhead in-service professional development for faculty, partnering closely with industry and external experts in the design and conduct of training, and generating on new pedagogies and their effectiveness. Linked to the work on reform of academic careers, the MERITE project can support the state to develop systematic professional development for faculty. • The State of Maharashtra has about 80 business incubators with about 3000 start-ups geographically reasonable spread in the State but with a concentration in Mumbai and Pune. The Maharashtra Innovation Society is sponsoring 17 of them with 5 crores over a 5 years’ period. Each of them has mandatory a full-time CEO often with industrial experience and the Board of the business incubators has to have a majority of representatives from outside the institution hosting the business incubator. The 17 incubators have targets that they have to fulfil each year to keep their funding such as number of start-ups being serviced, amount of their revenues, number of jobs created etc. Three very important conditions for the success of a business indicator are 1) full support of the leadership of the hosting institution; 2) the management team needs to have the necessary power to take decisions of the day-to- day operations of the business incubator; and 3) capacity building activities for the innovators and start-up companies such as bootcamps, mentors, access to angel and venture capital etc. • The State is in the process of establishing a Maharashtra State Responsible Research and Innovation Council which is expected to have an important role in identifying key areas of research of high importance for the social and economic development of the State. • Curricular reform: updating the syllabus and content with industry. The state has come up with industry friendly, outcome-based curriculum. Internships, mini- and microprojects are proposed to be added. • The State is implementing mandatory internships for polytechnics and apprenticeships for ITIs. • The State is implementing assessment reforms including continuous assessment on upper 3 levels of Bloom’s taxonomy. • LMS has been developed in-house and is being used for content delivery. • The State is promoting use of technology for administrative tasks. • The state has signed a MoU with Infosys for making their modules (about 4000) available free of cost to all students in Maharashtra. • NEP Implementation plan: The taskforce has come up with an implementation plan which will be adopted by the government in coming weeks. The implementation plan has 3 set of activities: Immediate • converting 3-year degree program to 4-year degree program. • granting university status to older institutes. • starting post-doctoral programs in all universities. • establishing a Research & Innovation council. • Human Resource Development Centers (HRDCs) to be realigned to multidisciplinary approach. • system of hiring adjunct faculty to be simplified. P a g e | 45 • research and innovation courses to be created. • Equal Opportunity Offices to be established at HEIs. • regional languages promotion – instruction in Marathi to be promoted. Medium term (1 to 3 years) • detailed plan and roadmap of reclassification of HEIs into Research-Intensive universities or Teaching-Intensive Universities or Autonomous degree granting institutes. • legislative framework for foreign universities to operate in the State. • establishing Maharashtra State Council for Development of Higher Education. • extensive teaching in Marathi and bilingual instruction. • establishing Maharashtra Dean’s consultative committee to bring uniformity among the universities in curricular framework. • establishing e-Board of Studies for inter-university discussions. • aligning general higher education and vocational education. Long term (5-year plan) • creating a ministerial committee to review NEP implementation plan developed by the state. • establishing Multidisciplinary Education & Research Universities. • cluster approach of jurisdiction of HEIs. • developing flexible framework for students – synthesized degree concept. • universal free digital access for all students. • creating Maharashtra Education Alliance for Technology. • Expectations from MERITE: • Empowering universities, UGC, AICTE through technical assistance. • Guidelines for multi-entry multi-exit. • Strengthening multidisciplinary approach. • Removing the bar of age in engineering education. • Support for Maharashtra State Faculty Development Academy (MSFDA) to become nodal agency for teacher training. • Technical workforce assistance for implementation of NEP. • Financial support to the State for conducting surveys of students on employability etc. • Un-aided institutions should also find a place in the project. • Project should have one component for institutes in remotest areas. Madhya Pradesh • Rajiv Gandhi Proudyogiki Vidyalaya (RGPV) has constituted a taskforce for drafting NEP implementation plan. • RGPV has seen a reduction in number of affiliated colleges from 180 in 2017 to about 120 in 2021 as smaller inefficient colleges with poor placement record get closed. Less admission leads to lower revenue resulting in poor quality of faculty and consequently poor placements. Poor placements result in lower admission in next cycle. This vicious cycle ultimately results in a college becoming unviable leading to closure of the college. • For NBA accreditation, admission to at least 70% of intake capacity is a mandatory requirement. Many colleges do not meet this requirement. • As affiliated colleges operate under a number of constraints, they need some degree of autonomy to implement NEP. As of now, only one private institute in MP has autonomy. P a g e | 46 • There is acute faculty shortage despite the State’s willingness to recruit, especially so in colleges located in remote areas as qualified persons do not want to relocate to remote areas. • Financial support beyond fee waivers has helped the State to increase female enrolment in polytechnics. • At present, the State has an affiliating technical university overseeing many colleges across the state. Improving all the institutes would be capital-intensive and improving only the university will limit the access. The State suggested developing one institute in each of the 10 divisions or 7 major cities as center of excellence within the region to facilitate teaching, research, and innovation for all the students of the region. The center will have all the latest machines for the students to gain exposure through projects, and an information center for industry interaction as well as digital lectures. • Increasing intake capacity of the institutes to the levels envisaged in NEP would require significant investment in infrastructure and teaching faculty. While lab infrastructure in government colleges have been improved in TEQIP, and faculty of government colleges were provided trainings, private colleges account for majority of enrolment and may require similar support. • As it is difficult to meet the UGC autonomy requirements, graded autonomy within the umbrella of affiliating university can be granted to the colleges with less restrictive set of criteria. • Smaller institutes need to be merged with larger institutes to bring efficiency and scale resulting in institutes viable for autonomy. • Institutes in big cities with good hostel and transport facilities would encourage girls to take admission. • As there are multiple layers of multidisciplinary education, a phased implementation plan is required to have multidisciplinary within institutes followed by across institutes, across universities, across the states, and across the world in subsequent phases. However, to implement multidisciplinary, states and universities require uniform guidelines from central regulators. • Research being conducted in the institutes has to be useful for industry or society. • A unified open portal for PhD thesis would provide information on the research being conducted by the institutes, also facilitating collaborative research. • A relook at the entry requirements for technical education may be required to encourage non-science students to join technical education. The required mathematical and analytical skills can be imparted as bridge programme before the regular curriculum. • The State suggested that all degree programmes should have at least 3-4 courses designed by industry. • The state requested support to train faculty on emerging technologies including industry 4.0. • The state suggested using GATE as qualification criteria for PhD admissions to improve the quality of intake. • The State is willing to do away with the affiliation system. It was requested to include the engineering colleges from remote locations also. The aspirational districts need to be a part of MERITE. In the area of digitalization, internal and external assessment of students should be part of the website of institute/ university and a there should be a dedicated portal for research students to trace the progress right from the admission stage Meghalaya P a g e | 47 • The State is in the process of setting up of 2 degree engineering colleges and one technical university and requested to consider 3 polytechnics in the State as part of the project. Mizoram • The State is eagerly awaiting to be included in this project in pilot mode and to start a new technical institution run by State and need hand holding and support from the Central Government and World Bank. Nagaland • The State has 9 polytechnic institutes that requires to be upgraded into degree colleges. The state does not have any degree engineering college. Odisha • The Government of Odisha has recently launched a 5-year plan to strengthen the quality of technical education in Odisha with a budget of over 1000 crores. The plan is focusing on improving the infrastructure of its technical universities and government engineering colleges through investing in classrooms, laboratories, faculty accommodation, hostels, sanitary facilities, etc. • The state expressed a keen interest to take part in MERITE. Key priorities for the State are faculty and leadership training, digitalization, recruitment of qualified teachers in rural/remote areas, strengthening students’ employability, improving the quality of infrastructure and associated facilities in the campus, developing the OUTR as a multi- disciplinary university. Capacity building of the Department of Technical Education and Training (ETET) would be also a priority. The work on formulating a plan to implement the NEP is still work in progress. • The state also appraised about state’s five-year plan and huge resource allocation to develop and improve the infrastructure with TEIs – with specific emphasis on adding/renovating classrooms, laboratories, research facilities, sanitation, water supply and hostels (including those for women). The state was suggested to use holistic campus planning and green building/campus approaches for this purpose, which will also help in bringing service efficiency, reduce over-all maintenance cost, increase safety, and create much better teaching-learning environs in the campus. The state officials reacted positively to this proposition and felt that the large-scale infrastructure revamping plan can benefit from such approaches. • Odisha has implemented some recent reforms to address access and equity issues in technical education such as financial support to girl students which has increased enrolment in ITIs. The State is expanding the program to include polytechnic and engineering institutes from next year. The State has furthermore reserved 15% of the seats for the students completing secondary education from government high schools to promote increasing access for rural students. • While teaching-learning, faculty, curriculum, infrastructure, etc. have gaps, administrative reforms have more challenges. De-affiliation or autonomy without administrative reform would be counterproductive. The State representatives suggested focusing more on governance and administrative structure than on academic issues. The project may create a model governance structure of a well-functioning HEI and have one such institute in each state as the model to emulate. Capacity building of the Directorate of Technical Education would also be helpful. • Research is not a primary objective of most of the HEIs in a State like Odisha. Most of the HEIs are teaching institutions with the objective of providing good quality UG and PG P a g e | 48 programs with focus on employability. Developing teaching skills and improving teaching infrastructure at these institutions should be one of the focus areas of the project. • The State HEIs have massive faculty vacancies and even though the state is willing to fill the vacancies, the interest from qualified personnel is low. Digital content creation and delivery can be one of the levers to address this issue. AR, VR, and other technology tools can help address this issue. • Phasing out affiliation and graded autonomy are desirable objectives. But it doesn’t sound very practical in short term. Improving the standards in academic and administrative capacity should be prioritized. • Labor Management Information System with concurrent linkage to academia and industry would be helpful in improving the employability. • A common facility center for engineering students, including at diploma and ITI level, can be created to encourage economies of scale and cross-learning. • Merger of institutions can be a good step to increase efficiency. Puducherry • The state would like to associate all their institutes with the scheme. Punjab • The state told that they already converted 02 of their engineering colleges into universities. The state further stated that they are reducing number of affiliated colleges and are ready to be part of MERITE as a pilot state. Rajasthan • The state informed that Govt. of Rajasthan has continued TEQIP-III faculty sustainability from State funds up to 31.03.2022 and Hon’ble CM has announced support up to next financial year also. • The state expressed their interest to be part of the project. Sikkim • The state told that they have issues of faculty vacancies, infrastructure and other facilities in the one and only State Govt. engineering college which was started in 2018. • The state further stated that they need support from the industry in terms of tie-up, workshops etc. and support to the staff of Directorate of Technical Education. Tamil Nadu • The State informed that on the technical education part, the State considers its current technical education model successful and doesn’t plan to implement some of the reforms suggested in NEP. However, on research aspects, the State would like support from the project to set up inter-disciplinary research centers. Telangana • IIIT Hyderabad shared the experience of a successful e-Master’s program, research- focused graduate programs, and a mentorship initiative to support smaller colleges of Telangana on teaching-learning and research. The institute has also adopted several government schools for mentoring high school students for technical education. Although IIIT is not a government institute, technically speaking, it was set-up by the Government of Telangana as the sole promoter of this initiative and could play a further-reaching role in terms of knowledge partnerships. P a g e | 49 • JNTU-H showcased the Centre of Excellence (CoE) created via TEQIP support. The autonomous colleges, in their presentation, noted that autonomy has helped them start new courses and programs, some of them multidisciplinary. • DEET showcased the data collection and analysis on the supply as well as the demand side of skilled professionals and demonstrated the capability and willingness to pilot graduate tracking system. • T-Hub, the state supported incubator, showcased the innovation and incubation ecosystem of the state which includes multiple organizations working on various stages such as idea identification, prototyping support, mentorship, commercialization, etc. The state has adopted an innovation policy that guides the operation of these units. • The state expressed willingness and assured support from the department for some of the critical reforms such as multidisciplinary education, graduate tracking system, digitalization, and phasing out of affiliation. • Technical directorate along with institutions is using e-procurement system for all procurement. The concerned procurement staff are well aware about Procurement guidelines. Each institution has its own Procurement units, which follows Government procurement Guidelines. Contract awards details at the State level are published in the Department website. Procurement record filing is in digital form i.e., through e- office, which is a transparent system. Also, there is Complaint handling system in place at the institution and at State level. • Concerted efforts in digitalization including LMS in colleges, Smart interactive whiteboards, and continuous evaluation using technology have been implemented by the state. • The fee structure in technical education is heavily regulated on cost plus basis i.e., they can charge student fee such that total receipts does not exceed about 1.4 times the faculty cost. This leaves very less money for quality improvement in the private colleges. • Technical Education (TE) is currently heavily regulated by AICTE. Need guidance from them to move forward on multi-disciplinarity and autonomy. • The state informed that the Content development for digital education especially in new and emerging areas is the need of hour. • Establishing CoEs in emerging technologies in the universities and colleges will benefit the state. Uttarakhand • The state requested to include provision for faculty recruitment to fill shortage of faculty. A request to include all institutes and University in the State was also made. West Bengal • The state submitted that they have 118 technical institutions including many universities running technical programs and are ready for being a pilot State. 9.1.3 Consultations with Higher Education Bodies AICTE • Discussions with the AICTE focused largely on Component 1 and Component 2 activities, with a view to exploring how AICTE’s ongoing work can be leveraged and/or strengthened under MERITE. It was agreed that the student learning assessment platform developed under TEQIP III would require additional enhancements to be feasibly used to measure and track student skills. • The AICTE also expressed interest in supporting MERITE on activities related to competitive research grants and piloting a graduate tracking survey, and jointly organizing P a g e | 50 workshops on crucial reforms such as multidisciplinary, tenure-track system, industry PhD, etc. NBA • Discussions with the NBA focused on program accreditation and the types of support that will be needed at the state as well as the institutional level in light of NEP recommendations. • NBA officials suggested the project includes capacity-building on outcomes-based education to prepare institutes for accreditation and experienced mentors to handhold project institutes. The NBA would be an important resource on this aspect with experience and lessons implementing similar efforts in the past. The NBA is exploring cluster accreditation for PG programs, i.e., accrediting all PG programs of a department together. UGC • Discussions with the UGC focused on current plans and guidelines for multidisciplinary education, expansion of autonomy and phasing out the affiliation system, digitalization and graduate tracking. The officials endorsed several activities proposed under MERITE and shared that they have developed or are in the process of developing guidelines for implementation, which will be circulated to states. • The UGC Chairman expressed interest in exploring the topic of a graduate tracking systems through a joint event/workshop inviting international experts to share experiences. 9.1.4 Consultations with Industry Experts • The mission met with representatives of three industry associations – CII, NASSCOM and FICCI – to brainstorm on how MERITE can strengthen linkages between technical institutions and industry. Current collaborations with industry include co-funded PhD program (PM fellowship for PhD with 50% industry funding), Global Innovation & Technology Alliance to co-sponsor up to 50% of R&D cost for new technology products jointly developed by industry and academia, etc. and there is scope to expand or strengthen these initiatives under Component 2. It was also suggested that MERITE could support the establishment of research labs in project institutions with industry support as a step to ensuring that research coming out of academia is applied, collaborative with industry and responsible to industry needs. The discussion also reiterated the need for strengthening linkages with MSMEs and not just large industries in urban clusters and to create incentives for faculty to build their own industry exposure through internships and sabbaticals. 9.1.5 List of advisory group members (theme wise) Theme I: Modernizing Teaching-Learning & Assessment Processes 1. Prof. V. M. Gadre, IIT Bombay 2. Prof. T. V. Prabhakar, Computer Science, IIT Kanpur 3. Prof. Shreepad Karmalkar, Electrical Engg., IIT Madras 4. Prof. Chandrasheel Bhagwat, Mathematics, IISER Pune Theme II: Multidisciplinary (Holistic) Education 5. Prof. M. Chandrasekhar, Director, IIM Vishakhapatnam 6. Prof. Makarand Kulkarni, Mechanical, IIT Bombay 7. Prof. Anand Bulusu, ECE, IIT Roorkee P a g e | 51 8. Prof. Ashish Pandey, Management, IIT Bombay 9. Dr. Vijay Honkalaskar, ‘Himalaya’ bungalow, Plot no. 4, Tamjainagar, Satara 10. Prof. Jitin Singla, Biosciences, IIT Roorkee 11. Prof. Aditya Kolachana, HSS, IIT Madras 12. Prof. Vivek Kumar, CRDT, IIT Delhi 13. Prof. Basavraj Anami, Principal, KLE Institute of Technology, Hubballi 14. Prof Srinivas Balli, VC, Nrupatunga (Cluster) University, Bengaluru Theme III: Enhancing Employability Skills 15. Sh. Avinash Panchal, IITB alumnus; Entrepreneur; Kolhapur 16. Prof. Manjesh Hanawal, IEOR, IIT Bombay; 17. Prof. Milind Marathe, K.J. Somaiya College of Engineering, Mumbai Theme IV: Quality Assurance 18. Prof. (Retd.) K. K. Aggarwal, Chairperson, NBA 19. Prof. Shireesh Kedare, Energy Science & Engineering, IIT Bombay 20. Prof. Anurag Tripathi, Chemical Engineering, IIT Kanpur 21. Dr. Yatheendranath TJ, DhiiHii Labs, Bengaluru Theme V: R&D, Startup and Incubation 22. Prof. T. G. Sitharam, Director, IIT Guwahati 23. Prof. Suryakumar S, Mechanical Engg., IIT Hyderabad 24. Prof. Ganesh Ramakrishnan, CSE, IIT Bombay Theme VI: Effective Governance 25. Prof. (Retd.) Nishikant Deshpande, Former Director, VNIT Nagpur 26. Prof. Bhimraya Metri, Director, IIM Nagpur 27. Prof. Pravindra Kumar, Bioscience, IIT-Roorkee 28. Prof. Nomesh Bolia, Mechanical, IIT Delhi 29. Prof. (Dr) Navin Sheth, VC, Gujarat Technological University 30. Prof. Vinay Pathak, VC, CSJM University, Kanpur Theme VII: Equity and Inclusion 31. Smt. Sudha Murthy, Chairperson, IIIT-Dharwad 32. Prof. E. Suresh Kumar, VC, EFLU 33. Prof. P.K. Jain, Director, IIT-BHU 34. Prof. (Retd.) Shivaraj, Chemistry, Osmania Univ.; Member, UGC 35. Prof. Sunil Gupta, VC, RGPV Bhopal P a g e | 52 9.2 Annex 2: CTGRAMS grievance filing procedure Step 1: • Open the link of CTGRAMS at http://teqip.in/grm/user.php • User will get two options to register the grievances either by email or by mobile no. Step 2: • User will get an OTP in both the cases • After entering the OTP, it will ask to fill the details like Name, Mobile no. and Email Id • User will fill the details and click on save button P a g e | 53 Step 3: • User will get a unique URN no. It will be used for further tracing the status of the complaint. Step 4: • Click on Ok, then click on Next button. • Now it will ask to fill further details related to the grievance of the user like category of the grievance (general, academic, financial etc.), name of the state of the user, Institute name and description of the complaint. • User can also upload the documents/evidence related to the complaint/grievance P a g e | 54 Step 5: • Click submit after filling all the relevant details. • After submitting, the user will get an SMS on the given mobile no. regarding successful submission of the grievance. Step 6: • User can check the status of the complaint/grievance at http://teqip.in/grm/checkComplainStatus.php • It will ask you to enter the URN no. which was generated during registering the complaint/grievance. P a g e | 55 Step 7: • Click on Get Status to check the live status of your complaint/grievance P a g e | 56