UGC grants autonomy to four educational institutions of Odisha

Bhubaneswar: In a historic decision, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has granted autonomy to sixty Higher Educational Institutions, including four of Odisha, which have maintained high academic standards.

They are Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, National Law University, Cuttack, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), Bhubaneswar and Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan University, Bhubaneswar.

While Utkal University, with a NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council) score of 3.53, has been declared Category-I university, National Law University was declared Category-II university with a NAAC score of 3.32.

Similarly, two deemed to be universities– KIIT and SoA– were declared category-II universities with NAAC scores of A (3.48) and A (3.35), respectively.

An announcement in this regard was made by Minister of Human Resource Development, Prakash Javadekar in New Delhi yesterday. Javadekar said that the sixty Higher Educational Institutions which have been granted autonomy includes 52 Universities i.e. 5 central universities, 21 state universities, 24 deemed universities, and 2 private universities.

The minister explained that these universities will remain within the ambit of  UGC but will have the freedom to start new courses, off campus centers, skill development courses, research parks and any other new academic programs. They will also have the freedom to hire foreign faculty, enroll foreign students, give incentive based emoluments to the faculty, enter into academic collaborations and run open distance learning programmes.