University Grant Commission puts substandard colleges on notice

According to the UGC (Affiliation of Colleges by Universities) Regulation, an aspiring college should have at least two acres of land and facilities in metro cities or five acres of area with adequate infrastructure and faculty in non-metros for getting affiliation from a university.

The institution first has to prove itself with a temporary affiliation. It will be given permanent affiliation only after five years. Once it gets permanent affiliation, it will be entitled to UGC grants.

The UGC had issued certain guidelines on affiliation in 2000-01. While the guidelines are more advisory in nature, the recently notified regulations are binding on institutions. Violations warrant  punishment.

For temporary affiliation, an institution should have administrative, academic and other buildings with sufficient accommodation to meet the immediate academic and other space requirements.

An institution needs to create and maintain corpus funds, varying from Rs 15 lakh to Rs 35 lakh depending on courses, to meet any exigencies.

The aspiring institution can apply for affiliation to a university, specifying its development plan for 10 years and its faculty recruitment policy.

The university will grant temporary affiliation only after conducting an inspection by an expert committee. The expert committee will examine the library, laboratory, classrooms, teacher-student ratio, academic excellence and recommend accordingly.

The university can withdraw affiliation from institutions for violation of the criteria.
The UGC has asked the 41 Central universities and 256 state varsities to follow the new regulations with immediate effect.