MAINS Current Affairs includes Draft SHANTI Rules 2026 & Challenges Facing India’s Higher Education

ENERGY

1. Draft SHANTI Rules 2026

Context: The government has recently released the Draft SHANTI Rules, 2026, which lay down detailed provisions concerning nuclear operator liability, insurance and financial safeguards in the context of expanding nuclear energy and encouraging greater private-sector participation.

About Draft SHANTI Rules, 2026

• The Draft SHANTI Rules, 2026 are intended to give effect to the nuclear-liability framework established under the SHANTI Act, 2025 and provide greater clarity for the future expansion and diversification of India’s nuclear sector.
• The proposed framework combines strict operator liability, compulsory financial protection and long-term financial planning, while also facilitating wider civilian and industrial applications of nuclear technology.

Key Provisions in Draft Rules

• Strict and No-Fault Liability: Nuclear installation operators would bear strict liability for nuclear damage, meaning compensation would not depend upon establishing negligence or fault.
  • The liability framework would also cover nuclear damage arising during the transportation of nuclear material.
• Mandatory Financial Protection: Operators would be required to maintain insurance, financial security, or a combination of both to meet potential liability obligations.
  • Financial security would have to be irrevocable and remain effective until the relevant spent fuel has been removed from the spent-fuel storage pool following its removal from the reactor.
  • Such security would be provided in favour of the Central Government, with a 1:1.33 margin where securities such as shares, bonds or other financial instruments are used.
  • Any deficiency in the required financial protection would have to be promptly supplemented through additional insurance or financial security.
• Wider Nuclear Applications: The proposed framework extends the potential use of nuclear technology beyond conventional electricity generation to areas such as captive power, industrial process heat, hydrogen production, medical isotopes, education, training and research.
  • Nuclear captive power could support hard-to-abate industrial sectors.
  • Nuclear energy could also find applications in emerging sectors such as data centres, semiconductor manufacturing, quantum technologies, high-performance computing and AI-related infrastructure.
• Lifecycle Financial Planning: Licensed nuclear facilities would have to make appropriate financial provisions covering civil liability, operational expenditure, spent-fuel management, radioactive-waste disposal, decommissioning and restoration of sites.
• Government-Owned Installations: Certain installations owned by the Central Government may be exempted from the requirement of obtaining insurance or other financial security. In such cases, the Central Government would bear liability for damages attributable to those installations.
• Periodic Review: An expert panel would undertake a review of the maximum civil-liability limits once every five years.
  • The review would draw upon expertise from nuclear science, engineering, actuarial studies, insurance, law and public-interest perspectives.

Related Concerns & Issues

• Adequacy of compensation: Liability ceilings and financial-security requirements should ensure adequate compensation to affected persons without making nuclear projects commercially unviable.
• Private-sector risk: Nuclear accidents can generate substantial and long-duration liabilities. Consequently, high insurance premiums and uncertainty over long-term risks could discourage private investment.
• Moral hazard: Where the Government assumes liability for specified installations, adequate safeguards are necessary to ensure that operators do not become less stringent about safety and risk management.
• Waste and decommissioning: Nuclear expansion requires reliable institutions, assured funding and specialised technical capabilities for radioactive-waste disposal, spent-fuel management and eventual decommissioning.
• Regulatory independence: Greater participation of private entities makes it essential to have a strong, independent, transparent and technically competent nuclear regulatory system.
• Public trust and safety: Nuclear expansion must remain closely linked with high safety standards, effective emergency preparedness, environmental protection and transparent public communication.

India’s Nuclear Landscape

• Nuclear energy is an important component of India’s clean-energy strategy as it provides reliable, low-carbon baseload power alongside renewable sources.
• India has adopted an ambitious objective of reaching 100 GW of nuclear power capacity by 2047 as part of its long-term energy-transition strategy.
• The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and its public-sector organisations have historically been at the centre of India’s nuclear-energy programme.
• India is developing indigenous nuclear technologies, including Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) and Small Modular Reactors (SMRs).
• Nuclear technology has applications beyond electricity generation, including healthcare, agriculture, food preservation, industrial applications, scientific research and isotope production.
• The Government is encouraging greater private-sector participation to bring in additional capital, technology, manufacturing capabilities and expertise for faster nuclear deployment.
• Expansion of nuclear capacity also requires sustained attention to nuclear safety, radioactive-waste disposal, spent-fuel management, decommissioning and emergency response mechanisms.

SHANTI Act, 2025

• The Act establishes the statutory foundation for the next phase of India’s nuclear-energy development.
• It seeks to facilitate greater participation in nuclear power generation while maintaining strong government oversight over nuclear safety and security.
• It establishes a framework for licensing nuclear installations and activities and specifies the responsibilities of operators.
• It aims to provide greater legal certainty and regulatory predictability for investment in the nuclear sector.
• The legislation provides a framework for civil nuclear liability, including compensation for damage arising from nuclear incidents.
• It provides for mechanisms relating to insurance and financial security to meet nuclear-liability obligations.
• The framework also facilitates broader non-electricity applications of nuclear technology, subject to relevant regulatory requirements.
• Safety, security, environmental protection and international safeguards remain important elements of the regulatory framework.
• Overall, the Act seeks to support India’s nuclear expansion while balancing energy security, climate commitments, public safety and strategic interests.

Way Forward: Strengthening Liability and Enabling Private Participation

• India needs a risk-sensitive nuclear liability framework that provides reasonable certainty to investors while ensuring adequate protection for citizens. This requires:
  • Clear and predictable liability ceilings and insurance arrangements.
  • An independent, adequately funded and technically capable nuclear safety regulator.
  • Dedicated and ring-fenced financial resources for radioactive-waste management and decommissioning.
  • Transparent systems for emergency response, information disclosure and public communication.
  • Strong accountability of both nuclear operators and equipment/supply-chain participants for maintaining safety standards.
  • Regular revision of liability provisions based on technological developments, safety experience and actuarial assessment.
  • Building greater domestic capabilities in nuclear manufacturing, insurance, safety technologies and radioactive-waste management.

ISSUES RELATED TO EDUCATION

2. Challenges Facing India’s Higher Education

Context: India has one of the world’s largest higher-education systems, but many of its universities continue to perform poorly in global rankings.

• Despite a large pool of talent, countries such as China, Singapore and Hong Kong have made faster progress in areas such as research, institutional autonomy and global competitiveness.

About Higher Education in India

• India possesses a vast higher-education network consisting of universities, colleges and standalone institutions.
• Expansion of the sector has considerably improved access to higher education.
• However, significant differences remain in quality, research output, employability and institutional governance across institutions.

Current Statistics (AISHE, 2023-24)

• Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER): According to the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE), 2023-24, the GER increased to 30 in 2023-24 from 7 in 2014-15.
  • Female GER increased to 2 in 2023-24 from 22.9 in 2014-15.
  • Scheduled Castes (SC) GER increased to 8 in 2023-24 from 18.9 in 2014-15.
  • Scheduled Tribes (ST) GER increased to 8 in 2023-24 from 13.5 in 2014-15.
• Gender Parity Index (GPI): It indicates the relative participation of males and females in education and stood at 08 in 2023-24.
  • It has remained above 1.0 for seven consecutive years, indicating sustained female participation in higher education.
• Enrolment in Higher Education: Total enrolment increased from 42 crore in 2014-15 to 4.46 crore in 2022-23 and 4.50 crore in 2023-24, representing a 31.5% rise since 2014-15.
  • Female enrolment increased from 1.57 crore in 2014-15 to 2.18 crore in 2022-23 and 24 crore in 2023-24, registering a 42.2% increase.
  • SC enrolment reached 72 lakh in 2023-24, compared with 46.07 lakh in 2014-15, an increase of 51.4%.
  • ST enrolment increased to 83 lakh in 2023-24 from 16.41 lakh in 2014-15, representing a 75.7% increase.
  • OBC enrolment rose to 80 crore in 2023-24 from 1.13 crore in 2014-15, an increase of 60.2%.
• STEM Enrolment: STEM enrolment increased from 5 lakh in 2014-15 to 1.02 crore in 2023-24.
  • The proportion of female students in STEM increased from 38.4% in 2014-15 to 44% in 2023-24.
  • The total faculty strength increased to 32 lakh in 2023-24, comprising 55.1% male and 44.9% female faculty.
  • Female faculty increased from 5.69 lakh in 2014-15 to 78 lakh in 2023-24.

Key Issues & Concerns

• Merit and Integrity: Recruitment, promotion and admission processes need to consistently uphold merit, fairness and institutional interests.
  • Opaque decisions or perceptions of favouritism can weaken institutional credibility and undermine students’ confidence in fairness.
• Misunderstanding Universities: A university cannot be treated simply as either a conventional government department or a private corporation.
  • It is fundamentally a community dedicated to learning and knowledge creation, requiring academic freedom, professional autonomy and accountability.
  • Consequently, uniform administrative policies may not always produce desirable outcomes.
  • Faculty assessment should account for differences between disciplines, teaching-oriented and research-oriented institutions, institutional scale and local circumstances.
  • Excessive bureaucratic intervention can discourage innovation and initiative.
• Leadership Deficit: Even well-designed policies may fail where institutions lack effective academic leadership and strong implementation capacity.
  • An environment where every failure is penalised can discourage experimentation.
  • Institutions instead require responsible risk-taking, mentoring, continuous learning and leadership development.
• Research and Employability Gaps: High-quality research remains concentrated in a relatively small number of institutions.
  • Weak industry-academia linkages, inadequate research support, limited international engagement and uneven faculty quality contribute to modest employability and limited global research visibility.
• Systemic Unevenness: A few high-performing institutions cannot transform the entire higher-education ecosystem.
  • Policies designed primarily around weaker institutions and imposed uniformly can constrain stronger universities without necessarily addressing the structural weaknesses of poorer-performing institutions.

Related Efforts & Initiatives

• NEP 2020: Provides the broader reform framework focusing on multidisciplinary education, institutional autonomy, internationalisation and stronger research orientation.
  • It proposed replacing the fragmented regulatory structure with a single Higher Education Commission of India (HECI).
  • However, the HECI legislation remains pending, resulting in reforms continuing through separate regulatory bodies.
• Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF): Established under the ANRF Act, 2023, replacing the earlier Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB).
  • It serves as India’s apex institution for promoting and funding research and innovation.
• NIRF: Provides a framework for domestic performance assessment and benchmarking of higher-education institutions.
• Institutions of Eminence (IoE): Launched in 2017–18, with an objective of developing 20 institutions, comprising 10 public and 10 private institutions, with greater autonomy.
• PM-USHA: Supports the upgradation and strengthening of State higher-education institutions.
• Academic Bank of Credits and multiple-entry/exit framework: Provides greater academic and curricular flexibility to students.
• SWAYAM and DIKSHA: Promote digital learning, online education and wider access to educational resources.

Way Forward: Strengthening Higher Education in India

• Ensure Accountable Autonomy: Universities should receive greater academic, administrative and financial autonomy, accompanied by clearly defined accountability mechanisms.
  • Excessive bureaucratic interference should be reduced while maintaining transparent audits and outcome-based assessment.
• Promote Merit-Based Governance: Recruitment and promotion should follow transparent and merit-based procedures.
  • Institutional leadership should be strengthened through professional selection, mentoring and continuous capacity-building of academic administrators.
• Adopt Differentiated Governance: Avoid a one-size-fits-all model.
  • Evaluation and promotion systems should recognise the different objectives of research-intensive, teaching-focused, multidisciplinary and specialised institutions.
• Strengthen Research & Innovation: Provide predictable and competitive research funding.
  • Encourage industry-academia partnerships, interdisciplinary research, international collaboration and technology transfer.
  • Strengthen the ANRF as a catalyst for India’s research ecosystem.
• Improve Faculty Quality: Ensure faculty recruitment is based on merit, expertise and academic competence.
  • Promote continuous professional development, innovative teaching methods and international academic exposure.
• Focus on Employability: Align curricula with emerging industrial and societal requirements.
  • Expand internships, apprenticeships, vocational exposure, entrepreneurship opportunities and soft-skill development.
• Build a Culture of Learning: Move away from a fear-of-failure approach towards responsible experimentation and institutional learning.
  • Periodic evaluation, peer learning and evidence-based policymaking can help improve academic practices.
• Reduce Regional & Institutional Gaps: Provide targeted assistance to weaker institutions while giving high-performing universities greater operational flexibility.
  • Encourage collaboration and resource-sharing to prevent the emergence of isolated “islands of excellence.”
• Strengthen Internationalisation: Attract reputed international faculty and students, expand global research partnerships and promote joint-degree programmes.
  • Creating a more globally connected academic environment can improve the competitiveness and international standing of Indian universities.

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