NEW DELHI: With inter-ministerial consensus eluding the proposal to set up a university for Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs), the Overseas Indian Affairs Ministry has sent it to the Cabinet Secretariat for being referred to the Committee of Secretariesto iron out differences.

Mooted by the Ministry in response to a demand made by PIOs, the proposal has been doing the rounds for the past few months but several contentious issues remain unresolved.

As per its proposal, the university will be set up, on the lines of the Indian Institute of Technology, by an Act of Parliament. However, funding will be entirely overseas. "All that we will do is facilitate the process," said a Ministry official.

Though the PIOs are keen that theuniversity be kept out of the purview of the University Grants Commission, the Ministry is of the view that it has to adhere to benchmarks laid down by statutory higher education bodies so that its degrees are recognised in India and elsewhere.

The university is open to Indian students also.

A bone of contention with the Union Human Resource Development Ministry is ``national treatment''.

The HRD Ministry is of the view that all education providers — foreign or domestic — should conform to Indian rules and regulations including the reservation policy.

While the Ministry does not propose to make a distinction between PIOs and non-resident Indians in admissions, the demand for the university has come primarily from PIOs in Africa, the Gulf and the Caribbean.

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