Special Report

Tandon Committee hit list

In its affidavit filed in the Supreme Court on January 18, the Union HRD ministry listed 44 former private colleges transformed into deemed-to-be or deemed universities under s.3 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956. The higher education institutions named and shamed in the affidavit were recommended for reversion of deemed varsity status by a four-strong committee chaired by Prof. P.N. Tandon, emeritus professor of neurosurgery at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi. Appointed in July last year by the Union HRD minister Kapil Sibal, the Tandon Committee was given a brief to ascertain which of the country’s 127 deemed universities deserved autonomous deemed status. In its report which is being kept under wraps by the ministry, the Tandon Committee gave a clean chit to 38 deemed varsities; probationary clearance to 44 and recommended derecognition of 44 deemed varsities with an aggregate enrolment of 200,000 students. Among them:

Tamil Nadu. St Peter’s Institute of Higher Education and Research, Chennai; Noorul Islam Centre for Higher Education, Kanyakumari; Meenakshi Academy of Higher Education and Research, Chennai; Chettinad Academy of Research and Education, Kanchipuram; Dr. MGR Educational and Research Institute, Chennai; Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Chennai; Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education, Virdhunagar; Periyar Maniammai Institute of Science and Technology, Thanjavur; Academy of Maritime Education and Training, Chennai; Vels Institute of Science, Technology and Advanced Studies, Chennai; Karpagam Academy of Higher Education, Coimbatore; Vel Tech Rangaraja Dr. Sagunthal R&D Institute of Science, Chennai; Vinayaka Mission’s Research Foundation, Salem; Bharath Institute of Higher Education and Research, Chennai; Ponnaiya Ramajayam Institute of Science and Technology, Thanjavur; Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development, Sriperumbudur

Karnataka. Christ University, Bangalore; Jain University, Bangalore; Sri Devraj Urs Academy of Higher Education and Research, Kolar; Yenepoya University, Mangalore; BLDE University, Bijapur; Sri Siddhartha Academy of Higher Education, Tumkur

Uttar Pradesh. Shobhit Institute of Engineering and Technology, Meerut; Santosh University, Ghaziabad; Manav Rachna International University, Faridabad; Nehru Gram Bharati Vishwavidyalaya, Allahabad; Lingaya’s University, Faridabad; Jaypee Institute of Information Technology, Noida

Maharashtra. Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences, Satara; D.Y. Patil Medical College, Kolhapur; Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth, Pune

Rajasthan. Janardan Rai Nagar Rajasthan Vidyapeeth University, Udaipur;  Institute of Advanced Studies in Education University, Sardarshahr; Mody Institute of Technology, Sikar

Uttarakhand. HIHT University, Dehradun; Grapich Era University, Dehradun; Gurukul Kangri, Haridwar

Andhra Pradesh. Vignan’s Foundation for Science, Technology and Research, Guntur

Haryana. Maharshi Markandeshwar University, Ambala

Orissa. Siksha ‘O’ Anusandha, Bhubaneswar

Gujarat. Sumandeep Vidyapeet, Vadodara

Puducherry. Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth, Puducherry

Bihar. Nava Nalanda Mahavira, Nalanda

Delhi. National Museum, Institute of the History of Art Conservation and Musicology, New Delhi