New Delhi, January 19: The objective of the committee was to “review functioning of the existing deemed to be universities, and ensure that standards of higher education and research are maintained by such institutions as to justify their continuance as deemed to be universities”.
The panel invited all 130 deemed-to-be universities for “face to face discussions” during August-September 2009. Of the 130 invited, 126 attended the sessions, stated Upamanyu Basu, Director, HRD Ministry in the affidavit.
The committee report divides the status of 126 institutes into three categories. The work of the last category of 44 institutes was termed “neither on past performance nor on their promise for the future have they attributed to retain their status as deemed to be universities”.
The panel said 38 institutes justify with their achievements, performance and potential to continue as deemed universities while 44 were found to be “deficient in some aspects which need to be rectified over a three-year period suggested by the committee”.
Another 44 were recommended for derecognition. Tamil Nadu tops this list with 16, including one sponsored by the government. Karnataka follows with six and Uttar Pradesh is at No. 3 with four. Haryana, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan have three each while Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Orissa, Puducherry, Bihar and Delhi have one each which will be closed.
Three government-sponsored institutes recommended for closure are the Nava Nalanda Mahavira in Bihar which has 525 students including 35 Ph.D scholars, Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu with 61 post-graduate students and the one at Janpath, New Delhi.
“The institutions which have been recommended for non-continuation as deemed to be universities together with their constituent units are located in 13 states/union territories and are located within the geographical and academic domain of 28 state universities,” Basu said in his affidavit.
Aberrations found in the functioning of the 44 institutes are “undesirable management architecture” of families rather than professionals running them; violation of principles and guidelines of excellence in teaching and research or innovations and “engaged in thoughtless introduction of unrelated programmes and proliferation of degrees”; very little evidence of noticeable efforts in regard to emerging areas of knowledge; “little evidence of commitment” towards research or ability to draw institutional or principal investigator-based research funding on competitive terms, UG and PG level programmes “fragmented” with “concocted nomenclatures”, abuse of freedom and flexibility in matters of admission and fee structure.
“Many institutions which attained deemed university status from being a college increased their intake capacity disproportionately and in some cases exponentially in relation to the qualified faculty strength and other academic infrastructure,” the affidavit stated.
A Task Force is preparing a plan to “safeguard” interests of students enrolled in the institutes “whose declaration is revoked in public interest and is accordingly required to cease operations as a deemed to be university”, the affidavit stated.
The below-par institutions will be required to revert to their status as an “affiliated college” of the statutory state university or state medical or dental universities concerned so that students would be able to complete ongoing courses and obtain degrees from the affiliating universities, the affidavit stated.
“The Central government is determined to take appropriate steps for securing the future of students enrolled in the 44 institutions in accordance with the recommendations of the Task Force,” Basu said in the affidavit.
“The government is committed to ensure that the standards of higher education is not lowered through the continuation of any institutions as a deemed to be university as is not found to have either performance or potential to retain the status of a university,” the affidavit said.
The government said it was still waiting for draft regulations of the UGC for declaration of institutions as deemed-to-be universities. The government said it was in the process of finalising a legislative proposal for regulating the entry and operations of foreign education providers in India. The proposal, the Ministry said, will be introduced in Parliament after obtaining necessary approvals.
THE VARSITIES OFF GOVT LIST
• Christ College, Bangalore, Karnataka
• Vignan’s Foundation for Science Technology and Research, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh
• Lingaya’s University, Faridabad, Haryana
• St Peter’s Institute of Higher Education and Research, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
• Noorul Islam Centre for Higher Education, Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu
• Jaypee Institute of Information Technology, Noida, Uttar Pradesh
• Shobit Institute of Engineering and Technology, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh
• Sumandeep Vidyapeeth, Vadodara, Gujarat
• Sri Devraj Urs Academy of Higher Education and Research, Kolar, Karnataka
• Yenepoya University, Mangalore, Karnataka
• BLDE University, Bijapur, Karnataka
• Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences, Satara, Maharashtra
• D.Y. Patil Medical College, Kolhapur, Maharashtra
• Meenakshi Academy of Higher Education and Research, Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
• Chettinad Academy of Research and Education, Padur, Tamil Nadu
• HIHT University, Dehradun, Uttarakhand
• Santosh University, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh
• Maharishi Matkandeshwar University, Ambala, Haryana
• Manav Rachna International University, Faridabad, Haryana
• Sri Siddhartha Academy of Higher education, Tumkur, Karnataka
• Jain University, Bangalore, Karnataka
• Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth, Pune, Maharashtra
• Siksha Anusandhan, Bhubaneswar, Orissa
• Janardhan Rai Nagar Rajasthan Vidyapeeth, Udaipur, Rajasthan
• Institute of Advanced Studies in Education of Gandhi Vidya Mandir, Sardarshahr, Rajasthan
• Mody Institute of Technology and Science, Sikar, Rajasthan
• Dr MGR Educational and Research Institute, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
• Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
• Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education, Virudhunagar, Tamil Nadu
• Periyar Maniammai Institute of Science and Technology, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu
• Academy of Maritime Education and Training, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
• Vel’s Institute of Science, Technology and Advanced studies (VISTAS), Chennai, Tamil Nadu
• Karpagam Academy of Higher Educatioin, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu
• Vel Tech Rangarajan Dr Sagunthala R&D Institute of Science & Technology, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
• Gurukul Kangri Vishwavidyalaya, Hardwar, Uttarakhand
• Graphic Era University, Dehradun, Uttarakhand
• Nehru Gram Bharati Vishwavidyalaya, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh
• Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth, Puducherry
• Vinayaka Mission’s Research Foundation, Salem, Tamil Nadu
• Bharath Institute of Higher Education & Research, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
• Ponnaiyah Ramajayam Institute of Science and Technology, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu
-Agencies