CAG report highlights poor execution, unutilised funds in Kerala's higher education scheme

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has pointed out serious lapses and delays in the implementation of the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) in Kerala, citing deviation from guidelines, delayed projects, unutilised funds, and poor monitoring mechanisms that undermined the objectives of improving access, equity, and quality in higher education. RUSA, a centrally sponsored scheme launched in 2013 by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, aimed to strengthen state higher education systems through institutional and infrastructural development. The scheme was to be implemented in two phasesRUSA 1.0 (201317) and RUSA 2.0 (201822). However, the CAG found that the State amended the Kerala Higher Education Act, 2007, in line with RUSA guidelines only in July 2018, five years after the schemes launch. Even then, several provisions remained inconsistent with the central framework. While the RUSA guidelines stipulated that the Chairman of the State Higher Education Council should be an eminent academic or public intellectual, the amended Act designated the Minister for Higher Education as the Chairperson, diluting the intended autonomy of the body. The audit also revealed significant delays in preparing the State Higher Education Plan (SHEP), which serves as the foundation for RUSA implementation. The mandatory baseline survey to assess needs related to access, equity, and excellence was never conducted. Seven selected institutions delayed submission of their final Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) by periods ranging from 347 days to 4 years. Further, the State Governments decision to limit the scheme to government institutions excluded 166 aided colleges with NAAC accreditation from the RUSA 1.0 benefits. The Kerala State Higher Education Council (KSHEC) was sidelined from managing RUSA funds, in deviation from the central guidelines. There were also delays of up to 395 days in releasing the states share of funds to the State Project Directorate, affecting timely project execution. Due to delays in submitting inspection reports to the Project Approval Board, several institutions were denied final instalments of both Central and State shares. Despite RUSAs objective of increasing investment in higher education, the states actual spending between 2018 and 2023 remained stagnantranging from only 0.44 to 0.51 per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP). At the institutional level, multiple cases of poor project management were flagged. The Government College, Tripunithura, had not finalised its project even three years after DPR approval, leading to unutilised funds. The SPD made full payment of Rs 1.24 crore to KELTRON without verifying completion of integration work at 31 locations, resulting in infructuous expenditure. Moreover, only four of 16 test-checked institutions included proposals for disability-friendly infrastructure, despite RUSAs focus on equitable access. Monitoring mechanisms were weak, with only 19 out of 157 funded institutions geo-tagging their project data on the RUSA website. The CAG concluded that Kerala failed to fully achieve the prerequisites of RUSA 1.0 or meet the targets of RUSA 2.0, highlighting inadequate planning, delayed execution, and poor governance as key factors hampering the schemes impact on higher education in the state.