HC highlights need for publishing list of recognised colleges

The Madras High Court today ruled that statutory agencies must publish a list of approved colleges and institutions offering various courses and their sanctioned intake of students, within three days of the publication of Class XII results.
Justice K K Sasidharan ruling came while dismissing petitions by St John's College of Nursing, Vellore, and its students, who sought a direction to authorities to allow them to appear for examination.
The judge said statutory bodies such as Medical Council of India, Dental Council of India, National Council for Teachers Education, Nursing Council, Pharmacy Council and All India Council for Technical Education had failed to publish a list of approved institutions and student intake limit and that had resulted in students being cheated by institutions.

The judge also said public must know details of institutions they were admitting their children and framed guidelines to be adopted by the statutory bodies.
"If the application/recognition was pending and the institution was having affiliation/recognition till the last academic year, the same fact also should be indicated in the notification/website of the concerned statutory body."
The judge said subsequent grant of affiliation or recognition or extension of approval should be published and the final list of approved institutions with its permitted intake should be published before the last date prescribed for submission of application for affixation or cut-off period prescribed for making admission under the relevant state.

"The statutory bodies should evolve a mechanism for awarding damages to the students whose careers are seriously jeopardised by unscrupulous management of colleges/schools, which indulged in giving admission without statutory recognition and in violation of rules as indicated by Supreme Court."
Dismissing the petitions, the judge said since it was clear that the institution had admitted more than its sanctioned intake, the question of directing the university to allow the excess students to write the exam did not arise.