The University Grants Commission (UGC) recently announced that central, state and private universities will no longer require prior approval from the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) along with their application to UGC for offering undergraduate, postgraduate and PG diploma programmes in open distance learning (ODL) or in online mode.
However, deemed-to-be-universities would have to continue to take prior approval/recommendation/ NOC of AICTE for offering of such programmes in ODL or online mode, before submitting their application to the Commission.
The decision was taken by the Commission in its 578th meeting held on March 13, 2024.
Earlier, under UGC (ODL Programmes and Online Programmes) Regulations, 2020 it was mandatory for the Higher Educational Institutions (HEls) to have prior approval or recommendation for the programmes falling under the ambit of the respective statutory or regulatory authority or regulatory council for offering the programmes in Open and Distance Learning (ODL) mode and/or Online mode, while submitting an application ot the Commission.
The official notification from Manish R Joshi, secretary, UGC, states, “The Commission considered the communication received from AICTE stating that as per the Supreme Court Judgement in Bharathidasan University and Another Vs. All India Council for Technical Education and Others (2001) 8 SCC 676, it is not mandatory for the State/Private Universities to take AICTE approval to run technical programmes.
After detailed deliberations, the Commission decided that for universities whether state or central or private, prior approval/recommendation/ NOC of AICTE shall not be required, as per UGC (ODL Programmes and Online Programmes) Regulations, 2020 for offering programmes in ODL and/or Online mode.”
The commission added that central, state, and private universities can only begin courses listed in Section 2 of the UGC (ODL Programmes and Online Programmes) Regulations, 2020, after receiving an approval, recommendation, or no-objection certificate from AICTE.
