Raid on fashion institutes running courses sans nod

Bhanu P Lohumi

Tribune News Service

Shimla, May 21

In a crackdown on private fashion designing institutes running “self-designed” diploma and certificate courses without the approval of the Centre or state government or statutory regulatory bodies, the Himachal Pradesh Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Commission (HPPEIRC) has directed these not to run any unapproved course. It also barred them from offering courses through distance education mode from any university.

HPPEIRC member Sunil Dutt Sharma initiated action against five erring institutes after seeking information from SPs of all districts regarding the existence of fashion designing institutes.

The commission took suo motu notice on the basis of inputs received from the district police and issued notices to Vector Education Society, Palampur, Swagat Education Centre, Gandhi Chowk, Hamirpur, Kangra Heights Institute of Fashion and Technology, Palampur, Paradise Institute of Fashion Designing, Dharamsala and Hotel Management Institute, Rajgarh Road, Solan, run by NFCI Educations Private Limited asking details of curriculum of courses run by them and their fee.

The commission asked the Vector Education Society to furnish details of course curriculum in respect to two fashion design programmes, copy of certificate/approval for running one-year fashion design course issued by the competent authority and specific approval with regard to authority as to who shall be issuing certificate/diploma in the above two courses.

After perusing the records, the commission ordered the society not to run any course designed on its own without the permission of the Central, state government or regulatory bodies. The institution was also directed not to charge fee from students as per their own will and also non-issuance of certificates designed by the society/ company.

The commission asked the society to file an affidavit to this effect and also not run any course under the distance education programme of any university within or outside the state unless specifically approved by the competent authority and found an affidavit tendered by the chairman of the society as satisfactory.

In case of the Paradise Institute of Fashion Designing, the commission was not satisfied with the information furnished by its director Mrityunjay Puri and termed the fashion design course run by the institute as “illegal and unauthorised”.

It further directed the institute to return the entire amount of Rs 93,900 charged as fee from 10 students within 10 days.

Dealing with the case of Swagat Education Centre, the commission ordered the institute not to run any certificate/diploma/degree courses with the INIFD franchisee agreement or any other franchisee or its own without the prior approval of competent authorities of the state/ Central/regulatory bodies.

The commission directed the Kangra Heights Institute of Fashion and Technology, Palampur, to close down all courses being run by it at both places namely Palampur and Kangra, observing that the management had failed to establish that these courses were approved by the competent authorities.

The order also said the institute shall not run any educational programme without an approval from the competent authorities and barred it from running courses under any distance education programme of any university (within or outside the jurisdiction of the state) unless specifically approved by the competent authorities

The commission directed the Hotel Management Institute, Solan, run by NFCI Educations Private Limited, not to run three-year hotel management course through distance education mode and asked the management to give undertaking.

Five institutes under scanner

• The regulatory commission took suo motu notice on the basis of inputs received from the district police
• It issued notices to the Vector Education Society, Palampur, Swagat Education Centre, Hamirpur, Kangra Heights Institute of Fashion and Technology, Palampur, Paradise Institute of Fashion Designing, Dharamsala, and Hotel Management Institute, Solan, run by NFCI Educations. 
• The regulator asked the managements about the details of curriculum of courses run by these and their fee.