Every technical institution in the country, approved or recognised by the All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), will have to provide for an ombudsman, as part of its grievance redressal mechanism.
The grievance could include those related with the standards of education, irregularity in the admission process adopted by the institute, refusing admission in accordance with the declared admission policy, withholding or refusing to return any document, and demanding money in excess of that specified in the declared admission policy.
According to the All-India Council for Technical Education (Establishment of Mechanism for Grievance Redressal) Regulations, 2012, issued by AICTE, each technical university shall appoint an ombudsman whose order would be mandatory, and failure of compliance could lead to withdrawal of AICTE approval and withdrawal of grants or financial assistance from the Council.
The regulations have been issued even as two Bills related to curbing malpractices — Prohibition of Unfair Practices in Technical, Medical Educational Institutions and Universities Bill that seeks to make educational malpractices like charging capitation fee, and overpricing of prospectus a criminal offence — and the Educational Tribunals Bill for dispute redressal — are pending in Parliament.
The ombudsman, who would be a retired judge, not below the rank of a District Judge, or a retired professor who has at least 10 years of experience, can also recommend the affiliating university for withdrawal or affiliation or withdrawal of status as a university of a Technical university, if established under a State Act.
The ombudsman will also hear the complaints of alleged discrimination by students from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, OBC, women, and minority or disabled categories. Harassment and victimisation of students, including sexual harassment, will also fall under the purview of the ombudsman.
However, no application for revaluation or remarking of answer sheets shall be entertained by the ombudsman.
S. Vaidhyasubramaniam, Dean (Planning and Development) of Sastra University, said the proposed ombudsman regulation seems to be a backdoor entry, as the two Bills related to it are still pending in the Parliament.
