KSOU yet to provide proper documents, affidavits to UGC

 It seems that the Karnataka State Open University (KSOU), whose courses have been de-recognised by the University Grants Commission (UGC) for not complying with the guidelines, is not serious about getting recognition renewed for its courses.

According to a letter from Renu Batra, joint secretary of the UGC, received by the KSOU on September 10, the university is yet to provide proper documents and affidavits. In the letter, addressed to the registrar of KSOU, the joint secretary has asked for information on collaborative institutions or study centres which have been closed.

“Furnish the details of communication or direction issued to the collaborative institutions or study centres for their closure,” the letter says. The joint secretary refers to a letter of the KSOU dated August 20 and states that the documents submitted are not as per the requirements of UGC to take a decision on renewal of recognition of KSOU’s programmes through outreach and distant learning (ODL) mode.

The letter points out that the KSOU has undertaken that it will not offer PhD, MPhil, technical or online programmes, but it has not given a categorical affidavit that all the said programmes earlier offered have been discontinued. “The university has not indicated the details of the action taken by it to amend the KSOU Act, 1992, to bring it in conformity with the UGC policy on territorial jurisdiction. The university may also indicate the present status of the civil writ petition that it had filed before the Delhi High Court in 2011, wherein IGNOU and the Ministry of Human Resource Development are the respondents,” the letter states. IGNOU is the Indira Gandhi National Open University.

Speaking to Deccan Herald, MLC Go Madhusudan, who is also a member of the Board of Management (BoM) of KSOU, said that the State government should have also taken responsibility in the interests of the students as their future is in jeopardy due to their rejection by various recruitment bodies, including the Karnataka Public Service Commission.

“The Higher Education department should have acted swiftly and amended the Act to restrict KSOU’s territorial jurisdiction as soon as the courses were de-recognised by UGC,” he said. Regarding the writ petition before the Delhi High Court, Madhusudan said the BoM had taken a unanimous decision on August 24 to withdraw the case, but neither the vice-chancellor nor the registrar acted on it, inviting another reminder from the UGC.
Vice-Chancellor of KSOU M G Krishnan was not available for comment.