14 colleges fail to get NAAC accreditation, cautioned

Bhanu P Lohumi

Tribune News Service

Shimla, January 29

The Education Department has cautioned 14 colleges that non-accreditation can deprive the institutions of Central grants by the University Grants Commission (UGC) under the Rashtriya Uchhattar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA).

The NAAC accreditation is mandatory after passing out of two batches or six years of inception. It reflects the grading of an institution and is the pre-requisite for all Central grants.

“Some institutions are not taking steps on the pretext that they don’t have permanent affiliation but it is not required for the NAAC accreditation. A certificate of affiliation from Himachal Pradesh University is sufficient for applying for the NAAC accreditation,” Director, Higher Education, Amarjeet K Sharma said in a letter to the erring colleges. He directed the colleges to take strenuous efforts in this regard.

There are 138 government colleges, including seven Sanskrit colleges, in the state and 58 colleges were opened during the previous government tenure.

At present, 33 colleges have got the accreditation and 48 colleges and five Sanskrit colleges are due for accreditation but 14 colleges have not taken any concrete step for it.

The cases of 35 colleges are under process at various stages, 31 colleges have sent the Letter of Intent and the same has been accepted in five cases. Further, a self-study report is under process in three cases.

The colleges, which failed to take steps for accreditation, included Government College, Seraj, Indora, Salooni, Bharmaur, Kukumseri, Thural, Tissa, Shahpur, Anni, Haripurdhar, Dharampur (Mandi), Pangi, Jaisinghpur and Haripur Guler.

The accreditation and grading enable the institution to know its strengths, weaknesses and opportunities through an informed review process, identify internal areas of planning and resource allocation, provide reliable information on quality of education offered and facilitates inter and intra-institutional interaction.