Anyone concerned with academic standards in Indian universities cannot but be deeply concerned at the ravages wrought by the system of affiliation modelled on the University of London with which we started in 1857. In addition to what we inherited, we have made the system even more dysfunctional. There is no limit to the number of colleges which can be affiliated to a university. Nor have any specific rules to earn the status of affiliation been laid down at any stage. Today there are something like a dozen universities which have more than 300 colleges affiliated to them. Some, though not all, of these universities are otherwise good, but what undermines their standing as a university is that they have to carry the unwanted cargo of a large number of affiliated colleges. The discussion in this paper makes two things clear: one, we have been a victim of the affiliating system for far too long; and two, without a decisive intervention by the centre no change can come about.
