Neoliberal Politics of Education Reforms in India: A Case of De Facto Privatization in University of Delhi Through NEP 2020

The chapter examines the recent developments in the field of education in India, since 2014. The authors reflect on the macro-level forces—political and economic—guiding the Indian government to frame and implement National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. To begin with, the chapter analysis the chronology of protests in university spaces, amidst the growing influence of right-wing politics in the light of preparing a ground to implement NEP 2020. The paper discusses how NEP (2020) turns out to be a neo-liberal move intensifying the pace of de facto privatization. Despite witnessing a massive loss of lives and livelihood due to the Covid-19 pandemic by a significant proportion of the marginalized Indian population, Indian government seems to deflect from the welfarist agenda, as reflected with cut in public funding for education. Further, the analysis reflects on how these developments in the field of education caters to the neo-liberal and neo-conservative agendas of the Indian state via privatization and promoting extreme right (Extreme right wing here refers to the Hindutva agenda being promoted by the ruling regime since 2014) political hegemony in education. This chapter takes up the case of the University of Delhi and critically examines the impact of the unilateral implementation of NEP 2020 in the university. Lastly, the chapter discusses how national state-level politics dilutes the welfarist agenda and continues to deflect from the path of achieving Sustainable Development Goal-4 (SDG-4) on the provision of inclusive quality education for all at all levels of education.