There are different kinds of institutions of Higher Education in India implementing varying concepts of autonomy. Privately funded institutions mostly work with a narrow view of autonomy. Even those of them that have had a more liberal view of it have been forced to fall in line, due to implicit pressure from the ruling dispensation. The institutions run with government funding have also inevitably lost whatever autonomy they had. The publicly funded universities theoretically can offer greater protection to academics but with few exceptions even they have substantially regressed in the last few decades.
This is a result of growing political pressure and bureaucratization of institutions of Higher Learning. The role of the head of Institutions is crucial in protecting the institution’s autonomy. However, often a narrow view of autonomy is adopted which grants it to the head but not to the academics. Those outside then can control the system for their ends. Society has little idea of these developments and therefore does not react to loss of autonomy of institutions.
In brief, the loss of autonomy in India is an ongoing process due to a lack of wider understanding of the issues. So, it is argued that autonomy is a societal issue requiring a holistic understanding and action.
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