UGC to Cut Research Funds for Varsities

There is some bad news for the state universities located in Telangana. Of late, the state is facing financial shortage and on top of that, the University Grants Commission (UGC) is into disbursing the funds related to research work.

A short time ago, the UGC was looking for the details regarding the total utility of funds as granted for the research schemes. Last month, the commission issued a circular stating that all the varsities must furnish the details and the impact of the research work. As of now, there is no university in Telangana that has submitted the wanted details. "The universities are yet to furnish the details. We are expecting them to send their data by mid-January," an official from the southern regional office of UGC was stated as saying.

For the next decade, a road-map is being planned to be outlined by the UGC for different research schemes. This will be according to the details submitted by the varsities. The curriculum issued by the UGC stated that "The statistics thus generated will also help identify the gaps regarding issues like fund disbursal, impact analysis, method of monitoring and frequency of interface,"

The details regarding the research work include a number of Ph.D. and MPhil degrees awarded, research papers published, grants spent, grants allocated, and patents filed and approved during the 12th plan period.

An expert committee has been constituted by the UGC to think about and discuss the important issues, and further, offer recommendations to the Commission with respect to the funds that come under the research schemes.