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Utkal nod to recognize degrees of other varsities
published on : 15/08/2013
Category : All India Council for Technical Education
BHUBANESWAR: A high-level committee of Utkal University on Tuesday recommended offering "equivalent status" to degrees conferred by all state-funded universities and those recognized by AICTE, UGC, the Association of Indian Universities, Medical Council of India and the Pharmacy Council of India. The move is a sharp departure from the prevalent practice at Utkal of considering each university for such equivalence on a case-to-case basis. The decision comes in the wake of the Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT) students alleging that some affiliated colleges and PG departments of Utkal denied them admission as their degrees were not considered equivalent to Utkal's. The university was under pressure from the government to "rectify its slip" of not considering BPUT students for admission in its courses. The decision of the committee, chaired by vice-chancellor P K Sahoo, will go to the varsity's Academic Council for final ratification. "We will shortly take a final decision to confer equivalent status to degrees recognized by various regulatory bodies for academic purpose as recommended by the equivalence committee," PG council chairman PK Mishra told TOI. As of now, the varsity offers equal status to degrees offered by various universities on a reciprocal basis after duly scrutinizing the merit of each case. "Since degrees offered by these professional bodies and state-funded institutions are considered valid everywhere, there is no point considering each varsity separately," said Mishra. Since Utkal's list of 172 institutions doesn't feature state-funded BPUT, some students of the technical varsity were denied admission to certain colleges affiliated to Utkal and its PG departments though some departments allowed admission. Because of lack of clarity, the heads of departments were taking a call on their own without following any norms. Utkal authorities had earlier attributed the problem of BPUT students to the absence of reciprocal arrangement in the two varsities. The Tuesday recommendation of the equivalence committee automatically brings BPUT under its list of recognized institutions. No doubt, BPUT students welcomed the move. "It will remove the hardships suffered by passouts of BPUT who are keen to join Utkal for management and law degrees," said BPUT students' protection council president Biplab Mohanty.
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students alleging that some affiliated colleges Utkal of considering each university for such equivalence on a case-to-case basis.