UGC stops ODL programmes in allied and healthcare sciences; existing permissions withdrawn

The University Grants Commission (UGC), in its 592nd meeting, held in July this year, has decided to stop providing allied and healthcare programmes in Open and Distance Learning (ODL) or online mode from the academic year July-August 2025.

The commission has directed institutions to discontinue the courses, now under the National Commission for Allied and Healthcare Professions (NCAHP) Act, 2021.

The decision by the commission was tabled during its 592nd meeting in July this year. ”Ban is regarding the offering of programmes in the specialisation of Psychology, Microbiology, Food and Nutrition Science, Biotechnology and Clinical Nutrition & Dietetics in ODL mode and Online mode,” the official notice says.

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No higher education institutions will be allowed to provide healthcare and allied courses in ODL or online mode from July 2025. Any recognition already granted to HEIs for offering such programmes for the academic session July-August 2025 and onwards shall be withdrawn by the UGC, it added.

“In the case of programmes with multiple specialization such as bachelor of arts degree with English, Hindi, Punjabi, Economics, History, Mathematics, Public Administration, Philosophy, Political Science, Statistics, Human Rights and Duties, Sanskrit, Psychology, Geography, Sociology, Women Studies, only the healthcare-related courses will be withdrawn,” the UGC said.

ODL Paramedical Courses: Admissions stopped

Moreover, the commission has also instructed the HEIs to not admit any student to such programmes from the July-August 2025 session onward.

The commission told the institutions that any degree or diploma awarded through such arrangement will be deemed invalid in India and won't be recognised by it.

Until 2021, when the NCAHP Act was passed, the allied health sciences sector was virtually unregulated, allowing for great disparities in curriculum, quality and monitoring across states. Plus, the sector suffered from a large number of fake courses, colleges, even regulators , as a Careers360 investigation revealed this year.

This year, the NCAHP, which is under the ministry of health and family welfare (MOHFW), has framed new curriculum for 11 allied health science courses, including physiotherapy , optomtery, and most recently, medical lab sciences.

In due course, allied and healthcare professionals will be registered at the state and central levels; there will be uniform paramedical admissions as well as exit or licensing processes.