NEW DELHI: University Grants Commission (UGC) member M M Ansari has protested against the Commission's public notice on courses offered by off campuses of universities as well as jurisdiction of varsities on the ground that its contents are "incorrect and misleading and therefore devoid of the spirit with which the UGC functions."
In a letter to UGC chairperson Ved Prakash, Ansari has pointed out that contrary to the claim of the public notice that the Commission has taken a serious note of misleading advertisements, "the Commission has neither discussed the contents of this public notice in any of its recent meetings nor has taken any objective exercise to identify and determine as to which advertisement is misleading." He asked, "And, if it is so noticed, why legal action is not taken against such universities?"
Ansari said at a time when university admissions are in progress, the UGC's public notice has created more confusion than clarifying the issue of choices of courses and universities.
In respect of territorial jurisdiction of universities, Ansari said there is no clear identification of the universities, which are operating beyond their territorial jurisdiction in violation of the statutory provisions. He told the UGC chairperson, "There is mismatch between the defined jurisdiction at the time of passages of the university acts by the state governments and the subsequent bifurcation/amalgamation of regions of states. There is therefore lack of clarity on the issue of territorial jurisdiction of some of the universities. This issue needs to be objectively examined."
Ansari said it is not clear as to which universities are offering programmes through 'franchising arrangements' or authorizing the private bodies to conduct courses on behalf of the university. "If the UGC is in the know of such activities of some universities, why cannot it derecognize or penalize them rather than confusing the general public?" Ansari asked, adding that at "no point in time any attempt has been made to expose the corrupt practices in offer of degree/diploma courses by the academic institutions".
Ansari also found it "astonishing" that the notice tells students not to take admission in such institutions. He said when relevant information are not "collected, compiled, analyzed and put in public domain" how will a student know as to which category institutions are approved by the UGC".
In a letter to UGC chairperson Ved Prakash, Ansari has pointed out that contrary to the claim of the public notice that the Commission has taken a serious note of misleading advertisements, "the Commission has neither discussed the contents of this public notice in any of its recent meetings nor has taken any objective exercise to identify and determine as to which advertisement is misleading." He asked, "And, if it is so noticed, why legal action is not taken against such universities?"
Ansari said at a time when university admissions are in progress, the UGC's public notice has created more confusion than clarifying the issue of choices of courses and universities.
In respect of territorial jurisdiction of universities, Ansari said there is no clear identification of the universities, which are operating beyond their territorial jurisdiction in violation of the statutory provisions. He told the UGC chairperson, "There is mismatch between the defined jurisdiction at the time of passages of the university acts by the state governments and the subsequent bifurcation/amalgamation of regions of states. There is therefore lack of clarity on the issue of territorial jurisdiction of some of the universities. This issue needs to be objectively examined."
Ansari said it is not clear as to which universities are offering programmes through 'franchising arrangements' or authorizing the private bodies to conduct courses on behalf of the university. "If the UGC is in the know of such activities of some universities, why cannot it derecognize or penalize them rather than confusing the general public?" Ansari asked, adding that at "no point in time any attempt has been made to expose the corrupt practices in offer of degree/diploma courses by the academic institutions".
Ansari also found it "astonishing" that the notice tells students not to take admission in such institutions. He said when relevant information are not "collected, compiled, analyzed and put in public domain" how will a student know as to which category institutions are approved by the UGC".
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