PTU off UGC list for distance education

Deepkamal Kaur

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, June 4

Having remained suspended for two years, the main revenue-generating distance education programme of IK Gujral Punjab Technical University is in the midst of a controversy all over again. 

The university’s name does not figure in the list of 127 universities which have been authorised by the University Grants Commission (UGC) to continue with the programme for the forthcoming academic session.

Pensive officials at the university today rushed their staff to the UGC office in New Delhi to pursue the matter with the authorities. 

The decision has come at a time when the university was set to re-launch the scheme for the new session by next week at slashed charges. It had aimed to enrol 20,000 students for various courses from Punjab. 

Ever since the bureaucracy has taken over the university, distance education has been on top of the agenda so as to restore the falling revenue.

The university, which in 2012 had 1.6 lakh students across the country enrolled in the programme bringing in revenue of Rs 100 crore per annum, got just 428 admissions in December 2014 at the time of restarting of the programme. 

Though at the time it had learning centres off-shores, its area of operation was confined by the UGC to Punjab alone. Though the name of Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, figures in the UGC’s list, PTU’s name does not find a place. This has given jitters to the staff concerned. Officiating Registrar of PTU and Deputy Controller of Distance Education Programme Dr Amanpreet Singh said, “There seems to be some error on part of the UGC. Our officials have gone to Delhi to get it rectified. We are hopeful that it will be done.”

Secretary, Technical Education, Punjab, and officiating Vice-Chancellor, IKGPTU, RK Verma, said, “The UGC has sought an affidavit from us which we will provide at the earliest. We had been given a go-ahead in a letter on August 24, 2014.