NAAC team's credibility in question, RU gets A+ grade

Time of India

18 hours ago

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Jaipur: Rajasthan University announced Sunday that the university has received an A+ grade from the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). A team from NAAC visited the university from June 3-5 for the third cycle of assessment.
Rajasthan University has received an A+ rank after over two decades.
Just last week, a question mark was raised over the visiting NAAC team's credibility following allegations of conflict of interest involving the team's chairperson.
On June 13, TOI had reported that Prof Nageshwar Rao, who led the NAAC evaluation team during their June 3-5 visit, served on the advisory council of RA Podar Institute of Management, an RU-affiliated institution, from Jan 18, 2021, until Feb 14 this year.
This appointment appears to violate NAAC's ethical guidelines, which mandate that team members should have no institutional associations within the previous three years.
Before this, the evaluation process was done by NAAC in 2016. Officials said that with this grade given by NAAC, not only will Rajasthan University be recognised at the international level, but the university will be able provide better platforms to the students.
"Due to the pending process of evaluation by NAAC for the last four years, the university was deprived of the grants through various schemes of the central govt, and the students were unable to benefits of new schemes," stated an official release issued by the university. Officials added that after this assessment, RU will be eligible for financial grants from the central govt.
Vice-chancellor Prof Alpana Kateja dedicated this achievement to the continuous efforts by all the teachers and staff.
She said that the NAAC team expressed concern over the status of vacant posts in the university and that she will soon place the challenges of the university before the state govt and discuss the issue.
Officials said institutions with A+ NAAC grade are eligible for special funding for research, startup incubation, digital infrastructure and innovation schemes from UGC and other agencies.
"The university implemented NEP 2020 on priority and the registration process of students in ABC ID has been started along with admission. Many value-added courses and skill enhancement courses have been implemented in the university in the interest of students. In future, there is a plan to start new employment-oriented courses with the aim of working in collaboration with the industries," said the Kateja.