FDDI degree row: Govt mulling deemed university status option

Government today said it is discussing the option of extending deemed university status to Footwear Design and Development Institute (FDDI) with an aim to bring relief to students who have been demanding degrees instead of diplomas.
"We are discussing...To see if there is a deemed university status that we can acquire (for FDDI), and approach the UGC subsequently to acquire a university status. But these are things which are ongoing," Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters here.
She assured FDDI, which comes under her ministry, the students and parents that the ministry is working to resolve the issue.

Last week, a meeting of top officials of the Commerce and Industry Ministry and the HRD Ministry was held where the issue of providing degrees was discussed.
Around 200 students of FDDI in Noida went on a rampage last week, 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 in 2012 for awarding degrees. But last year, UGC had termed the MoU as illegal, sparking off protests from students.

From 2012 and 2014, around 3,609 students had taken admission in the institute.

Sitharaman said the matter is an "issue in legacy. We inherited something which was not of our making."
The minister said she had met the parents and students more than three times since November 2014.
"We had all the stakeholders - IGNOU, the HRD Ministry, UGC, Commerce Ministry - sitting and talking about it.
"Post coming up with the possible solution, I had a meeting again with the students in 2015 and offered what was a possible solution for them...(but) some of the students felt that the solution was not suitable for them," she added.