Punjab approves private digital open universities policy for online education

Opening doors for private players in digital education, the Punjab Higher Education Department has framed the “Punjab Private Digital Open Universities Policy,” enabling students to complete their degree courses from home via online education.

Punjab and Kerala are among the two states that have allowed private participation in digital education.

In the rules notified on January 15, Administrative Secretary of Higher Education Anindita Mitra said the broad objective of a private digital open university is “to provide teaching and training in higher education through digital, online, distance, or open modes and to make provisions for research and innovation through technology‑enabled systems.”

She said the digital university will offer programmes at the undergraduate, postgraduate, and professional levels through online classes, digital assessments, virtual laboratories, and other technology‑enabled tools, overcoming the separation of teacher and learner using the internet.

As part of the regulatory policy, interested private players must have at least five years of credible experience in online learning, maintain a corpus fund of at least Rs 20 crore, and submit a processing fee of Rs 5 lakh to Punjab’s Department of Higher Education along with the application. Once approval is received, another Rs 20 lakh must be paid to the government.

To safeguard the interests of Punjab domiciles, the government has stated that at least 15 per cent of seats in the university will be reserved for Punjab domicile learners, and the state government may impose penalties up to Rs 25 lakh if any UGC or other norms are violated by private players.

Digital universities will have physical campuses, but these will be used as “headquarters” for administrative purposes only. No classes shall be held on campus.