Trouble brewing for IIPM

The Indian Institute of Planning and Management could be in trouble in Hyderabad, which is among the cities where it runs a study centre.

Dr M D Christopher, secretary, Andhra Pradesh State Council of Higher Education had, in a letter dated July 17, 2010, sought documents from IIPM Hyderabad to show that it was not violating the provisions of the AP Education Act, 1982, while offering various academic programmes in the state.

The documents sought by the Council included:

Recognition/affiliation letter of the institution from the state government/ university/central agency;

Approval letter to run various courses from the state government/university/central agency;

If IIPM did not comply within 15 days, the Council would presume that 'the institute has been offering the courses on its own without obtaining approvals from the respective authorities/agencies and to recommend the same to the Government of India and AICTE (the All-India Council of Technical Education) for taking further action in the matter,' the secretary wrote in his letter.

"The IIPM did submit the documents," T V Krishnamurthy, assistant director at the AP State Council of Higher Education, told Rediff.com "They are collaborating with the MS University of Tamil Nadu. But MS University cannot offer programmes through (the IIPM's) study centre in Andhra. The UGC and the Supreme Court have given directions that this is not valid.'

According to Krishnamurthy, IIPM submitted the necessary documents after the 15-day notice period. "They did so only a week or ten days back," he said.

Professor Jaiprakash Rao, the council's chairman, told Rediff.com that he is yet to check the veracity of the documents submitted by IIPM.

"The UGC has given a notification and press release dated July 31, 2010, stating that the IIPM cannot offer any course because it is not a university. As per our Education Act we will certainly forward our recommendations to the higher education department for initiating legal action. But ours is only a recommendatory body," Professor Rao said.

He added that as per the Education Act, any unauthorised study centre that is run without any recognition/affiliation or approval from the state government, university or central agency, could be closed.

Repeated efforts to get IIPM's version ended in their New Delhi campus office providing another number which nobody answered despite several attempts by Rediff.com

Click here to read the public notice issued by the UGC and a copy of the letter sent by the Andhra Pradesh State Council of Higher Education to IIPM.

PTI adds:

The country's higher education regulator, the University Grants Commission, has said that the privately run Indian Institute of Planning and Management, New Delhi, is not recognised by it and not authorised to confer degrees.

Without assigning reasons for its public notice brought out in dailies on Wednesday, the UGC said: 'It is further clarified for information that IIPM is neither entitled to award MBA/BBA/BCA degree nor it is recognised by UGC.'

The IIPM spokesperson was not reachable for comment while the IIPM chairman's office did not entertain calls.

Calls to UGC Secretary Niloufer Adil Kazmi's office were not returned.

The apex higher education body, in the notice, also said that 'IIPM does not have the right of conferring or granting degrees as specified by the University Grants Commission under section 22(3) of the UGC Act.'

The notice said: 'It is hereby informed to the public at large and students that IIPM, New Delhi, is not a University within the meaning of section 2(f) of the UGC Act, 1956.'

It added that IIPM is not recognised by the ministry of human resource development, UGC or the All-India Council for Technical Education.