New Delhi, June 12: How does a private educational institution found lacking in infrastructure or faculty by one University Grants Commission team, be found
fit for deemed university status a few months later by another? That’s a question UGC and the HRD ministry need to answer if the quality of higher education is to be maintained.
Investigations by TOI show that in many cases, UGC’s committee that visited these private institutions cited either lack of infrastructure or faculty. But the authorities ordered a second inspection and the review committee then found the institution had everything needed to qualify for the ‘‘deemed university’’ tag. Recognition promptly followed.
Examples include Periyar University in Tamil Nadu; Shobit University, Meerut; Sumandeep Medical University, Ahmedabad and Priest Punnaya Ramajayam Institute of Science and Technology, TN. Did UGC change its mind within a few months or was recognition given at the instance of the HRD ministry?
Many institutions also claimed they were de novo (working in new areas of knowledge like nano or biotechnology) institutes. This helped them subvert the criteria of getting deemed status, which includes 10 years of outstanding research or five post-graduate departments.
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UGC secretary R K Chauhan claims only 15-16 of the 100 private institutions granted deemed status in the past five years fall in the de novo category, but UGC sources said at least 60% of them are in this category. “It helped UGC as well as the institution,” a source said.
–Agencies