UGC asks universities to appoint ombudspersons; will publish names of defaulters after deadline

NEW DELHI: The University Grants Commission (UGC) has asked universities to appoint ombudsperson by December 31 and warned that it will publish the names of defaulting universities after the last date.

The commission said that it notified the University Grants Commission (Redressal of Grievances of Students) Regulations 2023 in the official gazette on April 11, 2023 and urged universities to appoint an ombudsperson within 30 days of the notification of regulators. The universities are required to comply with the regulations by forming a Students Grievance Redressal Committee (SGRC) by appointing ombudspersons.

UGC complained that despite several reminders, it has been noticed that some of the universities are yet to comply and said that this is being taken seriously.

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“The universities are required to comply with the regulations by constituting Students Grievance Redressal Committee (SGRC) any by appointing ombudspersons. However, it is understood that some universities are yet to comply with the regulations. The matter is being viewed seriously,” said UGC secretary Manish Joshi in a letter to the vice-chancellors of central, state, private, and deemed-to-be universities.

The secretary requested the universities to “promptly” appoint the ombudsperson and implement other provisions of the regulations by December 31. He asked to send a compliance report to the respective email IDs for each type of university.

“Since enough opportunities have been provided to the universities, it has been decided to publish the names of defaulting universities on the website of UGC after 31 Decernber 2023,” UGC letter added. The commission informed that in case a defaulting university wants to make a representation against inclusion of its name in the list of defaulting universities, it may send it to the secretary.

UGC further stated that in case of a continuous non-compliance of the regulations, the commission will take action against the university.