The University Grants Commission(UGC) has informed that it has decided, in its 514th meeting, held on 12th April, 2016, to grant autonomous status to colleges accredited by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) without on-the-spot inspection by an Expert Committee with the condition that a college which is accredited with the highest grade in two consecutive cycles and also secures the highest accreditation grade in the third cycle from NAAC will be granted autonomous status provided it obtains no objection certificate from the affiliating university and provided it also adheres to UGC’s Regulations viz. (a) curbing the menace of ragging in Higher Education Institutions Regulations 2012; (b) UGC (Promotion of Equity in Higher Educational Institutions) Regulations 2012; (c) UGC (Grievance Redressal) Regulations 2012 etc. in letter and spirit.

The UGC provides General Development Assistance (GDA) to Universities and Colleges, declared fit under section 12B of UGC Act, 1956 to receive grants, for improvement in their infrastructure and other facilities and thereby attain higher quality levels. Under the scheme of Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA), Central assistance, through the States, is provided to Colleges approved by the Project Approval Board (PAB) of RUSA, based on the State Higher Education Plan (SHEP), for improvement in their infrastructure. The details of the Colleges supported through RUSA infrastructure grants is at http://mhrd.gov.in/project-approval-board.

This information was given by the Union Human Resource Development Minister, Sh.Prakash Javadekar today in a written reply to a Lok Sabha question.