Nine years to bar errant Manipur university, academics flag 'poor performance' of UGC

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has derecognised a private university in Manipur for not providing the required information after allowing it to function for nine years.

The decision of the UGC to remove Sangai International University (SIU), Churachandpur, from its list of recognised universities has left academics worried about the sincerity of the higher education regulator.

According to a notice issued by the UGC, SIU was established in 2015. In July 2015, the commission asked it to provide information required for inspection. As the university did not send the information, the UGC wrote to it again in August 2015, October 2016, March 2019 and January 2021. The UGC issued a showcause notice in December 2023. The university defaulted that time too.

“The stakeholders including the student community is informed that the name of SIU, Churachandpur, Manipur, has been removed from the UGC list of universities under Section 2(f) of UGC Act, 1956. The university cannot offer any UGC specified degree of undergraduate, postgraduate level including PhD,” said the notice.

“Prospectively students and parents are hereby advised not to take admission in any of the programmes of the university from the date of issue of this public notice. In the absence of UGC approval, any degree issued by the SIU, Manipur, shall not be treated as recognised/valid for the purpose of higher education and employment,” it said.

According to the UGC Act, a university is an institution established under a central Act or a state Act or through an executive order to grant deemed-to-be-university status. SIU was set up through a state Act.

Abha Dev Habib, former executive council member of Delhi University, said that if the UGC had to derecognise the institution, it only meant that the institution had severe lacunas in either the teaching-learning environment or salary of teachers or similar issues.

“On one hand, the UGC allowed a deficient institute to function for nine years, while on the other hand, it is pushing public universities to offer deficient degrees by asking them to extend the duration of the course without sanctioning additional teaching posts or creating additional facilities. This notice is a statement on the UGC’s poor performance,” Habib said.

Rajesh Jha, a faculty member of Rajdhani College under Delhi University, said that students who had passed out might face discrimination for no fault of theirs.
“This is a fit case to illustrate the pitfalls of privatisation of the education sector. Gullible students will be cheated by this kind of fly-by-night operators,” he said.