ABSTRACT
The abysmal state of higher education over the years has been a matter of great concern. Enrolment in higher education has increased from 10 per cent in 2004 to 23.6 per cent in 2014. The decline in state funding of higher education has increased the private sector’s involvement in higher education. Despite the rapid expansion of private institutions, it is public universities that over the decades have contributed to the democratization of higher education. The Bharatiya Janata Party government in 2018 announced some of the most far-reaching changes in the higher-education sector which have a long-term bearing on higher education in India. The paradigm changes will exacerbate the crisis in the system of education and can damage the future of democratic education that promotes national development. As arguably India’s most anti-intellectual and regressive government, keen on eliminating the dissenting voice, it is afraid of intellectuals and universities and their students who think independently.
