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The PM-USHA is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme launched by the Ministry of Education, Government of India, in June 2023. It aims to enhance the quality of higher education in State-run institutions by promoting accessibility, equity, accountability, affordability, and quality, aligning with the five pillars of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. As the demand for higher education is increasing continuously over the years, there has been an unprecedented expansion in the number of institutions, universities, and volume of students in the country.
PM-USHA aims to address the key gaps and issues identified in the Evaluation Report of Centrally Sponsored Schemes by the NITI Aayog. The report suggested that the subsumed scheme should be redesigned for rationalization and higher impact. The intention is to focus on improving graduate employability through funding for the promotion of market-linked courses, industry connects, student internships, etc; rigorously tracking and monitoring employability outcomes of HEIs; introducing skill-based education for students, and identification of the critical skill gaps in graduates across various disciplines, suitable skill-based, and employment-led vocational courses/ modules; promotion of technology and Open Distance Learning interventions in higher education institutions to leverage technology for promoting access and quality; support to institutes for improvement in National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) accreditation grades; more emphasis on quality initiatives; promotion of higher uptake of e-learning/ virtual learning; tracking outputs/ outcomes of scheme interventions; promotion of community participation, gender sensitization, etc.
Funding and Implementation
PM-USHA has an outlay of ₹12,926.10 crore for the period 2023-24 to 2025-26. A total of 33 States and Union Territories have signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for participating in the scheme. In the first and second meetings of the Project Approval Board for PM-USHA, 440 units have been approved in various States/UTs with a total amount of ₹5,613.12 crore under various components. For FY 2025-26, the budget for this scheme has been kept ₹1,815 crore.
PM-USHA is funded through the Ministry of Education with prescribed contributions from the State governments and Union Territories (UTs). The project cost in the public-funded institutions for all sub-components is shared between the Central Government and State Governments in the ratio of 90:10 for North Eastern States, J&K, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand and 60:40 for the Other States and UTs with Legislature, the UTs without Legislature would be 100% centrally funded under this scheme.
The amount of Management Monitoring Evaluation and Research (MMER) grants is 2% of the total fund approved, out of which 1% will be released to the States/ UTs and 1% will be utilized by the Centre. The fund will be utilized for activities related to the implementation and monitoring of the scheme by the States/ UTs and Centre such as operation of the technical support group, monitoring portal etc. All States/UTs will be eligible for these grants.
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