UGC Notifies 159 State Universities About Failure to Name an Ombudsperson

The list of colleges that have not yet established an Ombudsperson (Lokpal), as required by the commission, has been made public by the University Grants Commission (UGC). Reportedly, the UGC has published an official notice listing 159 institutions that have disregarded the directives in spite of many cautions. Nearly 67 private institutions and two that are recognized as universities are listed by the UGC.

“UGC has notified the University Grants Commission (Redressal of Grievances of Students) Regulations, 2023, in the Official Gazette on April 11, 2023 (available on the UGC website),” said the official statement from the UGC. In a letter dated April 12, 2023, the universities were asked to choose an ombudsperson or ombudspersons within 30 days of receiving notice of the regulations. Several reminders came after this. The universities were once again asked to designate an Ombudsperson or Ombudspersons and carry out further UGC Regulation requirements by December 31, 2023, in the prior message dated December 5, 2023. Additionally, it was said that the UGC website would name the colleges that did not adhere to these regulations.

Andhra Pradesh Fisheries University, Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwavidyalaya in Madhya Pradesh, Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technology in Telangana, Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya in Chhattisgarh, and Gujarat National Law University are just a few of the universities listed on the list made public by UGC. The official UGC website has a comprehensive list of universities.

In addition, institutions that have already appointed or plan to appoint ombudspersons must provide all relevant information in the emails that the UGC shares about the ombudspersons.

The UGC (Redressal of Grievances of Students) Regulations were issued earlier in 2023 by the UGC in an effort to address and streamline the problems that students encountered in their institutions. In accordance with the new committee, the UGC mandated that all universities establish an Ombudsperson at the university level and organize a Students’ Grievances Redressal Group. The institutions were allowed 30 days to put the declaration into effect after it was announced on April 11, 2023. Following that, on December 5, 2023, the university received another reminder about it.