CHENNAI: Higher education institutions in the State and across the country will soon have a strict and speedy complaint redressal system, as University Grants Commission (UGC) has revamped its grievance redressal regulations.
The new regulations, once implemented, will make it mandatory for them to resolve complaints by students within 15 days of receiving them. The latest draft of UGC (Grievance Redressal) Regulations 2018 has now been put online for feedback from the public.
According to the existing system which follows UGC (Grievance Redressal) Regulations 2012, all higher education institutes are required to appoint an ombudsman for redressing grievances of students. But, according to complaints received by UGC, most institutes either do not have an ombudsman or if they have, they are appointed against the eligibility criteria.
“No university has an ombudsman as mandated by UGC. However, most of them have their own grievance redressal cells,” said Mangat Sharma, principal secretary, Higher Education Department. He said the State government has approached the Vice-Chancellors of reputed universities to formulate feedback, that will be submitted through the State government.
“We have our own grievance redressal unit. There are different committees, each that handle sexual harassment, ragging and other kinds of issues. We also have a dean of students and dean of faculty, in order to channelise grievances,” said a senior official from Anna University. He, however, refused to comment on the varsity’s stance on the draft regulations.
However, much to the relief of higher education institutions, UGC has done away with the most controversial aspect of the regulation that the ombudsman has to be a retired district judge or above in rank. The latest draft policy advocates that this person now can be a retired VC or registrar or a faculty with 10 years of experience as professor. The norms also say there would be four-level grievance redressal panels.
Students can use the regulations to flag a variety of issues, including irregularity in admission process, non-publication of prospectus or furnishing false, misleading information in prospectus, withholding certificates and documents of students, demanding money in excess of what is prescribed in prospectus, non-payment or delayed payment of scholarship, breach of reservation policy, delay in conducting examination or publishing result and unfair evaluation practices.
In case of non-compliance of the regulation, UGC can withdraw 12B status, withhold any grant allotted to the institutions, declare the institution ineligible for consideration for any assistance, inform the general public declaring that the institution does not possess the minimum standards for redress of grievances, and recommend for withdrawal of affiliation.