Suspend deemed university proposals: Kapil Sibal

New Delhi, Jun 5: Kapil Sibal has taken one of his first steps as the human resource development minister, in the direction of bringing order to the higher education sector. The minister has directed the University Grants Commission (UGC) to suspend the pending proposals for 'deemed to be university' status till the functioning of the existing deemed universities are reviewed.

“The Minister has asked the UGC to take up review of the functioning of all the 'deemed-to-be-universities" and report the deficiencies within the next three months with respect to maintenance of standards, especially with regard to the availability of the qualified faculty and the infrastructure in the 'deemed-to-be-universities" as well as the sanctity of the admission process for enrollment of students," a statement issued on Thursday, Jun 4.

This move comes after the existing universities drew criticism due to reports of these institutions misleading students, charging steep fee, poor academic and infrastructure standards.

National Knowledge Commission (NKC) and the Prof Yashpal-led Higher Education Committee have recommended that the process of declaring an institution as 'deemed to be university' under section 3 of the UGC Act, 1956 must be scrapped. This has led to the present move by the ministry.

OneIndia News