The University Grants Commission has urged universities and colleges to abide by the deadline to update data for the All India Survey on Higher Education.
In a notice to the vice chancellors, the UGC has sought data for the academic years 2013-14, latest by February 28 and for the year 2014-15 by July 31.
The commission has established a steering committee, which is chaired by the Higher Education secretary.
Universities and colleges can upload them directly through the portalhttp://aishe.gov.in. Non-submission of data will attract action against the institution under Section 14 of the UGC Act, said Secretary Jaspal S. Sandhu.
“The data so collected will be an important input for assessment of need-based interventions in higher education and formulation of futuristic policies by the Government of India and the UGC,” he said.
The commission made it mandatory to file ‘returns of information’ in 2004. Since the academic year 2010-11, the survey has been made compulsory.
According to some private institutions such data serves only statistical requirement and helps the Ministry of Human Resources understand the amount of funds disbursed to each university.
“There are a number of such surveys being done by various departments — including the AICTE and the DST. As institutions we are interested in what kind of research universities and colleges are doing and how much funding is provided,” said an official from a deemed university.
