UGC grants more autonomy to 60 higher educational institutions, including JNU, University of Hyderabad

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has granted greater autonomy to 60 higher educational institutions, including five central and 21 state universities, which maintained high standards, Human Resource Development minister Prakash Javadekar today said.The institutions granted full autonomy will be free to decide their admission procedure, fee structure and curriculum.Five central universities, 21 state universities, 26 private universities besides 10 other colleges have been granted autonomy under the Autonomous Colleges Regulation, the minister added.Jawaharlal Nehru University, University of Hyderabad, Banaras Hindu University, Jadavpur University and Aligarh Muslim University are some of the varsities granted greater autonomy.In the complete list of the universities granted autonomy, Javadekar also said that "these universities will remain within the ambit of UGC but will have the freedom to start new courses, off campus centers, skill development courses, research parks and any other new academic programs. They will also have the freedom to hire foreign faculty, enroll foreign students, give incentive based emoluments to the faculty, enter into academic collaborations and run open distance learning programmes."He also said that a show cause notice will be issued to three deemed universities that "are lacking in quality".With inputs from PTI