UGC proposes plan to let students access libraries, labs in other colleges

Students studying in various universities and colleges affiliated to them will now be able to use the library and laboratory of a college or university other than their own.

Now students of different colleges can do research work or can also avail of the sports facilities in colleges other than those they are currently studying in. The University Grants Commission (UGC) has made an important plan to share the resources of different universities and colleges keeping in view the interests of the students.

Giving information about this scheme, UGC Chairman M. Jagadesh Kumar said that universities, colleges or other higher educational institutions can provide such facilities to students with mutual consent.

Under this initiative, the educational institutions can allow students studying in other colleges or universities to use their laboratory, science room, computer lab, research, library, e-library.

Apart from academic studies, the higher educational institutions will also be able to share sports facilities under which students of other educational institutions will be allowed to use the playground, seminar hall and stadium, etc.

Similarly, if a student of one college wants to use the research resources of another college, then he can do research in other colleges outside his own college for which the UGC has made a special guideline for planning this arrangement.

According to the UGC, on the basis of these special guidelines, the state universities will get an opportunity to make more use of the resources of the central universities and such higher educational institutions. The special thing about this initiative is that the cost of maintenance of these resources will be borne completely by the UGC.

The UGC says that if, on the basis of the new guidelines, various higher educational institutions of a single city use their resources jointly, then it will surely benefit the students as well as these institutions.

According to the UGC Chairman, an educational institution in a city can use the resources of any other resource-rich educational institution present there as a guest. With help of this scheme, students of guest institutions will also get an opportunity to study in the libraries of other universities or colleges. Students will also be able to do research by going to the laboratories there.

The central universities across the country are generally considered resource-rich compared to other state-level or smaller universities and colleges. There are more than 40 central universities across the country, including Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University and Banaras Hindu University.

Modern laboratories, libraries, e-libraries, sports facilities are available in the central universities across the country. In such a situation, the students of other colleges and universities will also be able to get the benefit of these leading universities.

Apart from the central universities, IITs, the top institutes of engineering, including many other courses in the country, can also be helpful to the students in this matter. At the same time, apart from the central universities, there are many universities and higher educational institutions where more resources are available than other educational institutions. These include many state-level colleges and universities. These educational institutions can also prove to be very useful for the students studying in educational institutions having less resources.

But it is not necessarily the case that any university will be bound to make its resources available to other universities. This work will be possible on the basis of coordination and agreement between two colleges and/or universities.

Due time has also been fixed for this as mentioned in the guidelines released by the UGC. The guidelines say that postgraduate and PhD students can use the facilities of other educational institutions from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. under this scheme.

--IANS

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