Best Colleges Soon To Get the Status of 'Autonomous Institute'

Getting an autonomous status for any college is like wings granted to fly. Getting this status ensures that the college functions on its own and not under any other university.

Now, the UGC is planning to review the Centre's proposal to grant autonomy to colleges like Sophia College in Mumbai.

Sources revealed that, Prestigious Colleges across the country will soon be free from the shackles of affiliating universities if the University Grants Commission (UGC) has its way.

UGC is planning to revive the Centre's proposal in his regard in its upcoming meeting later this month. This shall be a soothing news for institutes such as St.Stephen's College and Sri Ram College of Commerce in Delhi, Sophia College in Mumbai and Loyola College in Chennai.

The sixth five-year plan had first mentioned about giving autonomy to these colleges. Unfortunately, there are only 400 colleges which are autonomous.

UGC Chairman Ved Prakash told "We want some of the best colleges to avail this status as it will allow them to innovate their curriculum and prescribe their own syllabus."

To gain autonomy, an institution needs the permission of the affiliating university, a no objection certificate (NOC) from the state government and the approval of the UGC inspection team, which assesses whether the college can perform the required duties.

According to Ved Prakash, one of the reasons for the lack of autonomous institutions in the country is because colleges often face difficulty in obtaining an NOC from state governments, which are skeptical about the colleges' ability to conduct examinations independently. Opposition from faculty members is another factor.