IIPM degree courses illegal

Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh State Council of Higher Education (APSCHE) has issued an order as per the directions of the University Grants Commission barring the Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM),which has branches in New Delhi and Hyderabad,from offering BA,BBA and BCA degrees courses. The order stated that IIPM did not have the approval of the ministry of human resource development,All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) and the UGC to offer the courses.

According to the release,IIPM has been offering courses through distance education mode.The notification by UGC was issued on July 31.The state council of higher education re-issued the same on Tuesday. MD Christopher,secretary,APSCHE,has circulated the latest orders against IIPM to all universities and colleges in the state. State government officials said that since UGC orders stated that IIPM- New Delhi was not a university,it did not have the permission to set up branches in other states.The branch in the state will have to be affiliated to a university in state before offering any courses.The institute in Hyderabad is functioning as a deemed university, an official from higher education department said.

Meanwhile,students representatives said that like IIPM,32 colleges in the state are illegally offering bachelors degree in management studies. The state council has received complaints against the institutes and we are investigating the same, said an APSCHE official. The UGC notification has come at a time when thousands of students from the state have already taken admission in these courses offered by the institute. The IIPM conducts entrance tests in 15 centres for admissions for these courses and it is estimated that 25 per cent of its students in the Delhi branch are from Hyderabad.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 (source-toi)