Campus rots, UGC sleeps while student kills himself

NEW DELHI, Nov 12: When Nishant Bhardwaj set himself ablaze in Jaipur on Tuesday because his results from Rajasthan University were delayed,...

NEW DELHI, Nov 12: When Nishant Bhardwaj set himself ablaze in Jaipur on Tuesday because his results from Rajasthan University were delayed, he highlighted an issue that the University Grants Commission UGC, the apex authority for the country8217;s 230-odd universities, seems powerless to control. Four years have passed since UGC despatched a letter to all the universities, demanding to know whether they were following their academic calendar. Only 130 universities bothered to reply and 8220;due to shortage of staff,8221; UGC is yet to compile the data.

As for data for 1997-98, UGC has just started the process of inquiry, and all it can say for now is that 8220;Jammu University, 17 universities in Bihar there are 18, some universities in Uttar Pradesh and 11 universities in the North-East have been unable to conduct their examinations for 1997-988221;. Even Allahabad University, the alma mater of Minister for Human Resource Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi, has not conducted post-graduate examinations since1996. The Ll.B students are even worse off: their exams have not been conducted for three years for one reason or the other.

According to UGC8217;s own report, only 42.8 per cent of universities were able to complete the mandatory 180 days of teaching between 1991-92 and 1993-94. As many as 22 per cent of the universities had less than 100 teaching days. This data is based only on information received from 76 universities. This is despite the University Grants Commission Act, 1956, legislating that UGC will coordinate and determine standards in universities.

Though UGC maintains that supervising the academic calendar of universities does not even fall under its mandatory regulations, there is actually a notification which makes it incumbent on all universities to send to UGC information on the 8220;minimum working days in the university, period of vacations, examination days and the number of days when actual teaching is conducted exclusive of the days for the preparation for examinations8221;. UGC mandarinshowever appear to be unaware of the punitive power given to them by the University Grants Commission Returns of Information by Universities Rules, 1979.

Yet another notification, the UGC Regulations, 1985, regarding the Minimum Standards of Instruction for the Grant of the First Degree through Formal Education, makes it essential for universities to supply information to UGC on academic standards within 60 days of the close of the academic year.

Though UGC can actually withdraw finances from the over 30 Central and deemed universities which it fully and partially funds, the commission has not done even that. It prefers to chant the mantra of autonomy, especially in the case of the 106 state universities which it does not support financially.