Indore: Though its autonomous status expired three years ago, Shri Govindram Seksaria Institute of Technology and Science (SGSITS) – a leading engineering institute of the state — has been exercising autonomy ‘illegally’. The institute has been conducting exams and preparing results on its own, a privilege attached to the autonomous status.
A closer look at a list issued by the University Grants Commission (UGC) on autonomous status of colleges revealed that SGSITS’s autonomous status was till session 2014-15 only. Despite that, the college continues to use the autonomy and cleared three batches of around 2000 students.
An autonomous college has authority to design syllabus on its own, run courses of its choice and conduct exams and evaluate answer books on their own. There are some other privileges which are attached to the autonomous status like funding from regulatory body, eligibility for many schemes of funding agencies etc.
All these privileges and authority are being used by the SGSITS even when it has not got a letter of approval from the UGC on autonomous status. Caught on wrong foot about 10 years ago SGSITS had previously also been caught on wrong foot about 10 years ago.
In 2009-10, the then RGPV vice chancellor Piyush Trivedi had come to know that the institute had been conducting exams and evaluating answer books even when its autonomy had exhausted. Trivedi had denied degrees to students of the SGSITS who had cleared the exams in the session for which the institute did not have renewal of autonomy.
After government’s interventions, the issue was resolved and degrees were issued to students. Later, the UGC issued renewal of autonomy to the institute retrospectively. UGC delayed process: Director College director RK Saxena said that the UGC had granted an extension of autonomy to the institute till academic year 2015-16.
“After that, we had applied for renewal of autonomy but UGC did not send team to our campus for inspection. As per my information, the UGC team will come to SGSITS in January month itself,” he said. To a query, Saxena said that the institute who had applied for renewal within the time-limit can exercise autonomy till UGC denies it. “We are not doing anything wrong,” he said.
Is PIMR also using autonomy illegal? The UGC website states that the autonomous status of Prestige Institute of Management and Research (PIMR) expired in session 2017-18. After that, the PIMR also conducted semester exams in November-December on its own.
The institute authorities stated that they held the exams on their own because the UGC team had inspected their campus for renewal of autonomy in October. The institute authorities also claimed that their autonomy has been renewed. “We have got a letter from UGC confirming renewal of our autonomy,” an official of PIMR said. What college should do when renewal is pending? If the renewal of autonomy is pending, the college should inform the university about the pendency and request it to hold exams for its students till autonomy is renewed.
Former vice chancellor of DAVV, Prof Aushotosh Mishra said: “The university can either hold exams of such a college or send its observers to monitor the college’s exam. The evaluation work should also be conducted under the observation of the university.”
