UGC lists two Odisha varsities as defaulters in appointing ombudsmen
The University Grants Commission (UGC) has now listed the two institutions on its website as those operating in violation of its regulations.
As per the UGC (Redressal of Grievances of Students) Regulations, 2023, a university - public or private - has to appoint an ombudsperson for redressal of grievances of students in the university and colleges affiliated to it. If the students fail to get relief from the grievance redressal committees, they can appeal to the ombudsperson, who should either be a retired vice-chancellor or a retired professor with 10 years of experience, or a former district judge.
The grievances may relate to ragging, irregularities in admission, demand of bribe for admission, violation of reservation policy, non-payment or delay in payment of scholarships, delay in conduct of examinations or declaration of results, unfair practices for evaluation of results, complaints of caste discrimination and any type of harassment.
Including Khallikote University and UUC, there are 29 such defaulting universities in the country. Earlier, the UGC had released a public notice on the defaulting universities, stating that these institutions did not have the minimum standards for redressal of students' grievances, which should be their top priority. It had asked them to take the necessary steps in this regard.
Sources said last year, the UGC had sent notices to 11 public universities in the state for not appointing ombudsmen. These included BPUT at Rourkela, IIIT, Odisha University of Health Sciences, Odisha University of Technology and Research, Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, UUC, all at Bhubaneswar, Shri Jagannath Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya at Puri, Rajendra University at Balangir, Kalahandi University, Khallikote University at Berhampur and Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Science and Research at Sambalpur. While nine of them appointed ombudsmen, two universities did not despite multiple reminders by the UGC.
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