NEW DELHI: The Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), a leading institution for journalism and mass communication in the country, has been granted a 'deemed university' status by the Ministry of Education.
Now, IIMC is authorised to offer degrees, including doctoral.
The new status extends to IIMC New Delhi and its five regional campuses located in Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir), Amravati (Maharashtra), Aizawl (Mizoram), Kottayam (Kerala), and Dhenkanal (Odisha).
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, IIMC announced, “A big thanks to the Ministry of Education for declaring IIMC New Delhi and its five regional centres as a Deemed to be University.”
“IIMC is committed to giving its best to promote education, training, and research in mass communication," the institute said.
The institute was set up under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on August 17, 1965.
Describing the deemed university status for IIMC as a “special and historic day”, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said, “This Institute has a glorious history of imparting quality education in media subjects like Journalism, Advertising, and Public Relations.”
“The granting of University status marks a new beginning, as more courses could be added to the curriculum along with research and doctoral programmes,” he said, adding that the step will provide the youth with new opportunities and help them explore new avenues.
The IIMC also serves as the training academy for officers of the Indian Information Service (IIS).
The status came after the Ministry of Education, on the advice of the University Grants Commission (UGC), declared that IIMC was a deemed university under a distinct category.
In 2016, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry approved the proposal to grant it deemed university status. But in 2018, there were suggestions that the institute be merged with either Jawaharlal Nehru University's Centre for Media Studies or Jamia Millia Islamia's AJK Mass Communication Research Centre.
However, this was rejected by both the education and I and B ministries on the basis that its independent and prestigious identity should be maintained.