BHUBANESWAR: Despite multiple reminders by the University Grants Commission (UGC), 11 public universities of the state are yet to appoint ombudsmen to look into various grievances of students, be it related to admissions or harassment.
These are Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT) at Rourkela, International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Odisha University of Health Sciences, Odisha University of Technology and Research, Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, Utkal University of Culture, 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.
UGC secretary Manish R Joshi on Thursday again wrote to the universities in this regard, directing them to make the appointments at the earliest. In January this year, 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.
As per the UGC (Redressal of Grievances of Students) Regulations, 2023 notified in April last year, 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.
While the Higher Education department is yet to issue any notification to the universities in this regard, an official said the process has been delayed as the model code of conduct was in place for the recently-concluded general elections.