Institutes offering technical and professional education will face punitive action,including getting tagged with No admission status for a year and even withdrawal of approval,for not maintaining prescribed faculty,student ratio,not adhering to qualifications for teaching staff,and not having qualified principal / director,among other violations. Also,colleges not maintaining the prescribed computers,printers,software,internet,laboratory,equipment and books,journals,library facilities shall be liable to similar action. The University Grants Commission (UGC) has come out with holistic measures in the form of UGC (approval of colleges offering technical and professional education by universities) regulations,2013,whose draft is in the public domain for feedback till December 30. As per these regulations,every public university is required to submit a compliance report concerning the provisions of these regulations in respect of all the affiliated technical and professional colleges to the UGC every year. Head of universities shall be liable for strict action for failing to enforce these regulations. The universities will have to maintain a list of un-approved colleges offering courses in technical and professional education and shall also inform the UGC and general public about the same. The draft regulations have proposed a long-list of checks on institutes offering technical and professional education. Accordingly,such colleges conducting courses in temporary location or at location not approved by the governing university,shall be liable for action,including closure. Excess admissions over the sanctioned intake shall not be allowed to these colleges. In case any excess admission,the college shall be liable to one or more actions namely,recovery of charges five-times of extra fee collected after excess intake,suspension of approval of supernumerary seats for an academic year,No admission status for a year,withdrawal of approval to course or withdrawal of approval of the college. The draft regulation has also proposed stringent action against colleges not following guidelines issued by the university regarding refund of fees on cancellations of admissions or delaying refunds. The fine for non-compliance of refund of fees levied against each such case shall be twice the total fees collected per student by such errant institutes,and they would be also liable for punitive action in the form of No admission status for a year and withdrawal of concerned course. Heads of several local engineering institutes refused to comment on the draft regulations. Career counselor and civic activist Vivek Velankar said UGC should bring in place a strong mechanism to ensure that all proposed checks on education institutes are followed religiously. The educational institutes often show scant regard to any such regulations imposed on them in the absence of proper mechanism that can ensure implementation of important directives issued from time to time, he said.
