IITs told to toe UGC line on degrees

The controversy over Delhi University’s Four-Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP) has opened up a fresh fault line with the University Grants Commission asking the Indian Institutes of Technology to ensure that their degrees conform to the Commission’s July 5 gazette notification on approved courses.

This could trigger a controversy as the IITs insist they were set up by a separate Act of Parliament and, therefore, not governed by the UGC Act. But the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry has taken the view that the provisions of the UGC Act, 1956, and the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961, should be “construed in a harmonious manner rather than to the exclusion of the other.”

The Ministry formulated its position after the director of IIT Kharagpur, Pratha Prathim Chakraborty, wrote to the Higher Education Secretary seeking intervention in the matter. While many of the IITs decided to ignore UGC’s communication, Prof. Chakraborty wrote back contesting it. His letter underscored the fact that IITs are governed by their own Act of Parliament and empowered to institute “courses of study” without seeking the approval of the UGC. Stating that there was some confusion within the UGC regarding autonomy and powers of the IITs to institute their own degrees and courses of study, IIT Kharagpur asked the Ministry to clarify this to the Commission which issued the gazette notification after the controversial rollback of Delhi University’s FYUP.

Responding to Prof. Chakraborty’s letter, the Ministry said IIT Kharagpur should list the various degrees that may not be in conformity with the list of UGC specified degrees. “The exact mismatch between IIT Kharagpur degrees and the UGC-specified degrees may have to be reviewed jointly” by them and an appropriate solution worked out considering the student interests at stake.

As for Prof. Chakraborty’s contention that IITs are empowered by the Institutes of Technology Act to institute “courses of study,” the Ministry’s opinion is that this does not imply degrees since both are used at separate places in the IIT Act, 1961, without any expressed equivalence.