Govt floats draft regulations for deemed varsities, proposes waiving 20-year condition to apply for a tag

The draft UGC (Institutions Deemed to be Universities) Regulations 2022 also recommends that interdisciplinary institutions, or clusters of them with at least five departments, be eligible to apply for the status of an adopted university.

The government submitted a draft on Friday to amend the rules of “possible” universities, proposing to remove the requirement that they must have existed for at least 20 years before they can apply for a tag.

The draft UGC (Institutions Deemed to be Universities) Regulations 2022 also recommends that interdisciplinary institutions, or clusters thereof with at least five faculties, be eligible to apply for training university status. increase.

UGC Chairman Professor M Jagadesh Kumar said the committee believes existing policies need to be changed in line with the 2020 National Education Policy.

According to existing regulations, the 20-year term expires only if the applicant can demonstrate that they “follow the strategic needs of the country and/or are committed to the protection of cultural heritage.” These applicants will be given fictitious status under “de novo status”.

Professor Kumar said that once the draft regulation is approved, the governance structure of the adopted university will be similar to that of Chuo University.

“The eligibility criteria is NAAC Grade ‘A’ with a minimum of 3.01 CGPA for three consecutive cycles, or NBA certification for two-thirds of the eligible programs for three cycles,” he said.

The Draft Regulations also envisage replacing the term “de novo” with “separate body”. A pitch was made to simplify the process of licensing off-campus centres for recognized universities.

“Extra-Campus Centers are approved by UGC. Previously, this approval was granted by the Ministry of Education. Universities with good reputations establish Offshore Campus Centers under UGC regulations on this subject. There is also entitlement,” said Professor Kumar.

He will impose gradual penalties for violations of the rules, including warnings, bans on extensions, closure of courses or departments, and withdrawal of university status for repeated violations.

The Deemed Clause

The Deemed Clause meant that under the UGC Act of 1956 only institutions responsible for state or union law could claim university status, thus allowing more higher It was introduced to give educational institutions university status for all practical purposes.