XLRI set for varsity status

From The Telegraph

Jamshedpur, Nov. 13: XLRI School of Business and Human Resources is set to get deemed university status.

XLRI director Father N. Casimir Raj told The Telegraph: “UGC has agreed in principle to grant us deemed university status.”

He, however, clarified that that though a verbal assurance has come from the University Grants Commission, the business school is yet to receive a formal notification.

“UGC has verbally told us that in principle they agree to our proposal for deemed university status which was sent about a year ago. Now we will pursue the matter so that the written confirmation reaches as soon as possible. We will then apply for a no-objection certificate (NOC),” Fr Raj said.

An NOC from the state government is a must for any institute to begin autonomous operations.

At present, Birla Institute of Technology (BIT), Mesra, and Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad, are the other deemed universities in the state.

Explaining the benefits of a deemed university, the director said the move would give XLRI the freedom to start various undergraduate courses on its own.

“There was a demand for undergraduate courses for quite sometime, but we were not too keen to go in with Ranchi University. Deemed university status will help us pursue our own courses,” he said.

Some of the new courses the B-school wishes to introduce are Bachelor in Computer Applications (BCA), Bachelor in Business Administration (BBA), BSc in Information Technology (BSc, IT) and a degree in agricultural engineering.

With the new status, XLRI can also award degrees to students instead of the regular post-graduate diplomas that it confers now.

It would get help from the Centre and the UGC in pursuing research projects, which are self-funded now.

The business school is also looking forward to receiving outstation students in Jamshedpur at the undergraduate level and also stop the exodus to some extent.

“It’s not possible to bring in change overnight, but if an institute of XLRI’s repute begins a course at the undergraduate level, we can expect at least some percentage of students from the state. We can also get students from outside the state to come to Jharkhand for higher education,” Fr Raj said.

BIT Sindri has also applied for deemed university status, said Fr Raj, who is the chairman of its board of governors.