OneIndia Exclusive | Privatisation Killing Education System: Ex-UGC Chairman Sukhdeo Thorat

The NEET-UGC paper leak has become a bitter pill to swallow for the Centre. Amid the protesting students and political backlash that has gained traction in the past few days, OneIndia's Nagen Singh spoke exclusively to Sukhdev Thorat, former chairman of UGC.

Unhappy with the way things are moving forward, Thorat threw light on a number of issues and how to address them.

Photo Credit: Screengrab from the interview

He also spoke against the contractual employees hired by UGC to replace the permanent ones, eventually disturbing the reservation meant for SC and ST candidates.

During the interview, when asked about a way out from the paper leak conundrum, Thorat suggested that ministry should do away with the centralisation of tests and hand it over to states and universities.

Thorat also seemed unimpressed with the Centre's move of handing over the paper leak case to CBI. As per him, only the criminal will be punished through this, but the crime will still persist.

He also spoke against the privatisation of the education system, especially at university level.

"Privatisation of education has become a profit-making business. It has reduced the access of education for the poor and marginalised. As of today, 50% of the universities are private. 65% of the colleges are self-financed or private. This trend is killing the education system," Thorat said.