17 June : UGC has found certain private universities running off-campuses outside their territorial jurisdiction and illegally granting affiliations to colleges in a blatant violation of its norms.
The educational regulatory body has directed them to close-down such campuses immediately, a senior UGC official said."We have found that certain state private universities are running off-campus centres outside their territorial jurisdiction besides giving affiliation to colleges. This is in violation of UGC regulations," he said.
It was also noticed that certain state private universities are granting franchise to private parties to run off-campus centres.The errant universities include Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India (ICFAI) and Dheradun-based Hemgiri Nabh Vishwavidyalaya (HNV).
While UGC has already directed HNV to close down the off-campus centre it had opened in Goa, in other cases the Commission was in the process of taking similar action.
"As per the norms, private universities can neither affiliate any institution or college nor set up off-campus centres," the official said.SC’s anguish over privatisation of education
The Supreme Court on Wednesday came down heavily on unbridled privatistion of education which was breeding vested interests to exploit the students by setting up educational institutions without obtaining proper affiliations and recognition.
"We have read the high court judgement thoroughly and we share the anguish expressed therein. The protagonists of private education should know what is happening," a vacation bench of Justices B Sudershan Reddy and Aftab Alam observed.
The apex court said it cannot pass any interim order for allowing students of unaffiliated institutions to write their exams as that would be unconstitutional and against the country’s rule of law.
"Any such direction could be destructive of the rule of law. It is revolting and our conscience does not allow our allegiance to the Constitution to be affected by giving such direction," the bench observed.
The apex court made the remarks while dealing with a petition filed by several unaffiliated private educational institutions imparting B.Ed (Bachelor of Education) courses in Madhya Pradesh to permit their students to write their annual examination.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court had earlier passed a judgement rejecting the plea of 196 unaffiliated colleges for permitting their students to appear in the exams for the present academic year.
The high court, while dismissing the plea of the unaffiliated colleges, had slammed the manner in which the authorities had permitted scores of unaffiliated institutions to flourish even in marriage halls and tin sheds.
"Grant of recognition extending of affiliation, running of the course and holding of examination in respect of B.Ed courses in the State of M.P. has created a tortuous atmosphere having the potentiality of unsettling and discomposing the system.
"Colleges have been allowed to run in marriage halls on part-time basis, in tin sheds and sometimes in the portion of a shop or in school premises without any infrastructure", it said.
"The norms, standards, rules, regulations, postulates, stipulation, injunctions and commands are thrown to the winds as if determined to make the rule of law limping and anemic, the pathology of teacher training education beyond diagnosis and the prognosis totally unpredictable," the high court had observed.
It was this view that the apex court echoed today by stating that it shared the anguish expressed by the high court.
The apex court sought a response from Dr Hari Singh Gaur University in Sagar on the plea of the colleges seeking permission for the students to write the examinations.