UGC withholds permission to upgrade IIMC Master Degree

New Delhi: The Information and Broadcasting Ministry's plan to upgrade journalism diplomas offered at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) to Masters level has hit a roadblock, with the University Grants Commission (UGC) withholding its permission for the same. The IIMC in New Delhi has now been asked to revise its proposal and submit it again to the UGC and the Human Resources Development Ministry.The IIMC, which is the country's premier journalism institute and its three regional centres in Aizawl, Dhenkenal and Amravati, currently offers Diploma courses in journalism and advertising.


In its Standing Finance Committee meeting held on July 15, 2010, the I&B Ministry had prioritised that it would seek equivalence to Masters Degree for the Post-Graduate Diploma Courses from the HRD Ministry.Consequently, the Ministry took its proposal to the HRD Ministry but the UGC did not agree with the idea after observing that courses and syllabi that IIMC had proposed for its PG Diploma Programmes was not found to be of Masters level in its current form.


Last week while tabling a statement showing Action Taken notes on a Parliamentary Standing Committee's observations on the I&B Ministry's Demand for Grants (2011-12), the I&B Ministry said that a revised proposal was now being worked at."IIMC has been advised by the Ministry of HRD to resubmit the revised proposal after taking into consideration the observations of the UGC so that further necessary action could be taken by them," the I&B Ministry had said in its statement.The I&B Ministry in its statement also said that the need for an act of Parliament for upgradation of IIMC to an Institution of National Importance was also being examined in the ministry.(Agencies)