Indore: Old GDC gets full academic autonomy

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): After Holkar Science College, Mata Jijabai Government Girls’ PG College—commonly known as Old GDC—has become the second government college in the city to be granted full autonomy from the University Grants Commission.

The higher education regulator has not only extended autonomy for the PG courses till the 2026-’27 session, but it has also granted autonomy for undergraduate courses. The autonomy for UG courses will be implemented from the first year.

“This is big news for Indore, which is dubbed the educational hub of the state. It’s the only city across the state now which has two government colleges will full autonomy,” said additional director, higher education, Dr Suresh Silawat.

So far, Holkar college was the only government college in the city which had autonomy for both its PG and UG courses. Old GDC had autonomy for only its PG courses.

Full autonomy has been granted to Old GDC on the recommendations of a three-member committee of the UGC which inspected the college campus and assessed its standards.

Started in 1956, the college offers 42 courses of B.Sc, B.Com, BA, BBA, MA, M.Com and M.Sc and so on.

What fetched full autonomy

The student-teacher ratio, quality of teaching imparted and examination system of the college helped it in securing full autonomy from GDC. Specialisation courses, better placements and research also clinched a good score. Infrastructure, facilities, library and so forth also played a role.

What comes with autonomy

The college will now be able to take exams in all the courses and, subsequently, declare the results on its own. It will not be dependent on the university for this. The college will also have the right to issue marksheets to its students. Only the degrees students of Old GDC will have to obtain from DAVV. Besides, the college will be free to start whichever course it wishes to. There will be no interference from the university in academic matters. The college will be able to design its own syllabus.

Hard work paid off: Principal

Principal Dr Shri Dwivedi said that it was a matter of pride for them. “From this year itself, we’ll start using full autonomy. Syllabus designing will start and we’ll take examinations of first-year students too,” the principal added.