HPU gets ‘A’ grade from NAAC

Bhanu P Lohumi

Tribune News Service

Shimla, November 5

Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) was granted “A” grade by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) today.

A 13-member NAAC team had visited the HPU for four days from October 3 to 6 for a comprehensive inspection to gauge the performance of the university on various parameters and the university was given 3.21 out of 4 points.

The final grading for the third cycle was recommended at the 18th meeting of the standing committee of NAAC held in Bangalore. Jammu University got “A plus” grade, Bangalore University and Vardhman University, also got A grade, were behind Himachal in the tally with score of 3.16 and 3.11.

Expressing satisfaction over “A” grade given by NAAC, Vice-Chancellor Prof ADN Bajpai said, “We were expecting ‘A Plus’ grade but satisfied with ‘A’ grade” and attributed the improvement in grade from “B” to “A” to the efforts of the teaching and non-teaching staff and students.

Exuding confidence that the university would get “A Plus” grade in the next inspection, Prof Bajpai told The Tribune, “We have already started working for the fourth cycle (inspection) and a 35-member team has been constituted to ensure that all parameters of NAAC are met the next time”.

Prof Bajpai said 3.21 Cumulative Grade Point Average was much better than the earlier 2.5 out of 4 with B grade in 2009 in Cycle 2 and 80.5 points out of 100 with B++ grade in 2003 in Cycle 1. The HPU being a hilly terraced university having very peculiar conditions had done a commendable job in multipurpose research and extension in the past 6 years, he said.

The “A” grade was significant as violent clashes took place between SFI and ABVP activists during the visit of the team, vitiating the academic atmosphere. The university had made preparations for the team visit and the teaching and non-teaching staff worked overtime continuously for over a month and the staff worked even on Sundays and holidays.

Three patents, digitisation of 10 lakh pages in the university library, projects undertaken and maintenance of archives by the Institute of Tribal Studies, pahari miniature at the art gallery, yoga-related activities and performance of departments, especially the Science Department, were showcased to the team.