Indore : Nearly five months after it was granted Grade ‘A’ accreditation by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), the Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya (DAVV) on Thursday applied for University with Potential for Excellence (UPE) status, a tag that carries a grant of Rs 60 crore.
“A proposal for the UPE status was submitted to University Grants Commission (UGC),” said Prof Ganesh Kawadia, who was chairman of the committee that prepared the proposal.
The UGC officials informed the DAVV that it were the first to apply for the UPE status this year. Launched during XI Plan and extended till XII plan, the UPE scheme is for providing seed grant of Rs 60 crore to Grade ‘A’ accredited universities, which have potential for excellence.
The DAVV had become eligible for the scheme on February 22 when it received Grade ‘A’ accreditation from THE NAAC.
“The last date to apply for the scheme is September 15. Nearly a fortnight is left for the deadline to pass off. We don’t think many universities will apply for the scheme. That’s means we hold strong chances of getting the UPE status,” Kawadia said.
Through its proposal, the university has informed the UGC about research activities undertaken at the DAVV, special assistance programmes, centre of excellence status to its departments, number of students and teachers, facilities available on the campus and infrastructure.
After going through the proposal, the UGC will send a team to the DAVV, which will examine whether it deserves the UPE status. “The status will hinge on the report of the visiting team,” Kawadia said.
Also submits proposal for Sports Scheme
The DAVV also applied for Urban Sports Infrastructure Scheme (USIS) under which it has been offered a grant of Rs 11.3 crore.
The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports that runs the scheme had sought proposal by August 29 and the DAVV submitted the proposal with one day left for the deadline to pass off.
Following performance of the university in Inter-University Sports Competition in various sports disciplines, the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) recommended the name of DAVV for the USIS under which Multi-Purpose Indoor Hall and Synthetic Athletic Track are to be setup. The maximum amount of grant permissible for synthetic athletic track is Rs 5.50 crore and the Indoor Hall is Rs 6 crore. The cost of the projects exceeding these amounts shall be borne by the DAVV.
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