FDDI degree: Ministries mulling various options

Aiming to bring relief to students of Footwear Design and Development Institute (FDDI) in Noida who have been demanding degrees instead of diplomas, Ministries of Commerce and HRD are examining various options, including the possibility of making it a deemed university.
Sources said a meeting of top officials of the two ministries was held in HRD ministry in Shastri Bhawan, where the issue of providing valid degrees was discussed.
"Today we discussed the issue in detail. We are trying to find a solution as early as possible," a Commerce and Industry ministry official said.
It is learnt that the various options which were discussed include asking the institute to apply for deemed university status, or making it an institute of national importance through an Act.

The final decision regarding the institute, which comes under the Commerce Ministry, may be taken at the level of Ministers, sources said.
"For the institute to become a deemed University, it will have to apply for it and after the due process that status can be granted," an official said.

The students have also been given the option of acquiring an IGNOU degree which however has not found acceptance from most students, another official said.
Around 200 students of FDDI yesterday went on rampage ransacking the premises and damaging two buses in protest against alleged failure of the institute to give them degrees instead of diplomas.

FDDI had signed an MoU with Mewar university for degree in 2012. But last year, UGC had termed the MoU as illegal. Since then, the students were protesting. From 2012 and 2014, around 3,609 students had taken admission. FDDI only provide diploma courses.