BHUBANESWAR : The University Grants Commission (UGC) has renewed the autonomous status for BJB College for another 10 years.
Sources said the UGC approved the recommendation of its standing committee on autonomous colleges recently, granting extension to BJB College for the academic period from 2022-23 to 2031-32.
The college had been granted autonomous status from the 1999-2000 academic session. However, the renewal of the status got delayed in the recent years owing to pending compliances.
The extension, however, includes ex-post-facto approval to regularise the gap period from 2022 to 2025, in line with the UGC Conferment of Autonomous Status upon Colleges and Measures for Maintenance of Standards in Autonomous Colleges) Regulations, 2023.
Member of UGC Prof Sachidananda Mohanty, who played a crucial role in ensuring fulfilment of norms by the college, said the extension of the autonomous status will facilitate the institute to enjoy greater academic flexibility in terms of decision-making for examination and syllabus, get more funding from national-level bodies and also help the institute carry out pioneering works for educational reforms.
Mohanty, a National Fellow at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, (IIAS) Shimla and former vice-chancellor of Central University of Odisha, Koraput, said the UGC and its members, including him, are always ready to support colleges in renewing their autonomous status.
He advised that colleges seeking to renew their autonomous status should start the process well before its expiry to avoid any gap in the recognition.