Bhubaneswar: The University Grants Commission (UGC) has refused to accord recognition to the Rajendra University in Balangir.
In a letter to the Registrar of Rajendra University on December 28 last year, UGC deputy secretary Naresh Kumar Sharma had said that the university has not been set up under section 2 (f) of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956 which states that “University” means a University established or incorporated by or under a Central Act, a Provincial Act or a State Act, and includes any such institution as may, in consultation with the University concerned, be recognised by the Commission in accordance with the regulations made in this behalf under this Act.
Sharma has further said that the UGC cannot recognise this university as the state government has set it up through a notification without any existing law or Act.
The Higher Education Department, after consultation with the legal experts, wrote to the UGC secretary saying that the state government has set up the Rajendra University on June 1, 2020, under section 32 of the Odisha University Act, 1989.
The Department has further said that the state government under the Odisha University Act, 1989, can change the geographical boundary and the name of any university and set up new universities.
It also said that the state government, apart from the Rajendra University, has also set up Fakir Mohan University, North Odisha University, Rama Devi Women’s University, Gangadhar Meher University, Khallikote University, Kalahandi University and Madhusudan Law University under the Odisha University Act which the UGC has included them in the list of its recognised universities.
The Department has requested the UGC to reconsider its decision and accord recognition to the Rajendra University.
