LU Asked to Provide 50,000 Degrees in 180 Days

Lucknow University (LU) has been struggling to provide degrees to almost 50,000 students of the university and its associated colleges.

Internally , while the university has been finding the work onerous for various reasons, the University Grants Commission (UGC) recently ordered all universities to award degrees within 180 days.

The matter pertains to students from the batches of 2014 and 2015 who have studied at LU or at one of its 144 associated colleges. While the university has held two convocations, in 2015 and in 2016, it has awarded degrees to those who were part of the two convocation ceremonies. Rest of the degree holders have only been able to lay hands on their provisional degrees which are valid for only six months from the date of issue.

“It is only recently that I have taken over the post and the matter is being looked into . We have started processing the degrees. Students are our top priority ,“ said Lucknow University's examination controller AK Sharma.

Officials at the university cited improvement and backpaper examinations and the constant change in marks, that add to the work, as one of the reasons for the delay . The university's plan to include around 15 security features in its marksheets because of the large number of fake ones surfacing was also said to be one of the reasons.

According to the recent UGC notice, however, 180 days have been fixed as “more than sufficient.“ UGC has also said that the delay amounts to “constraining opportunities of students.“

“The degree date shall be within 180 days of the date by which the students are expected to qualify and become eligible for them,“ read the UGC notice.

Source: Rahul Pandey, City Journalist - Lucknow, CollegeDekho