The University Grants Commission (UGC) has dispensed with a major requirement for the State governments to establish open universities.
In order to be able to start an open distance education university, a State was required to allocate 40-60 acres of land, according to the UGC (Fitness of Open Universities for Grants) Rules, 1988.
The UGC has now amended this requirement to five acres of developed land. A gazette notification to this effect was issued on May 22.
UGC Chairman Jagadeesh Kumar said, “The idea behind this reform is to promote more institutions in distance/online mode of education without being limited by the availability of developed land... The amendment was required as such vast amounts of land would be difficult to procure in cities and hilly areas.”
As many as 16 States, including Telangana, Gujarat, Punjab, Karnataka, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra, have established open universities. The Indira Gandhi National Open University is the only Central government institution, according to the list on the UGC’s Distance Education Bureau website.
In the State, the Tamil Nadu Open University, situated in Saidapet, Chennai, is the only institution to offer exclusively online courses.
