CAG report: Delhi govt universities, including GGSIPU, DTU operated without mandatory NAAC/NBA accreditation for years

NEW DELHI: A CAG report tabled in assembly on the functioning of universities under Delhi govt for the financial year ended March 31, 2023, flagged serious gaps. It noted that some of the universities operated for years without mandatory accreditation of National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) or National Board of Accreditation (NBA).The audit highlighted acute faculty shortages of up to 60%, with many senior posts lying vacant, and pointed out that the admission regulatory committee was constituted only in April 2023 after a delay of 16 years. Significant infrastructure deficiencies were also observed, including seating deficits for students mounting to 59%.The findings also noted a delay in revision of policy guidelines — they were effective till 2018-19 but were not revised till 2022-23 — and the constitution of the state fee regulatory committee.According to CAG, the three sampled universities, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (GGSIPU), which is an affiliating body, Delhi Technological University (DTU) and Delhi Pharmaceutical Sciences & Research University (DPSRU), and affiliated colleges functioned for three to six years without mandatory NAAC/NBA accreditation as required under University Grant Commission (UGC) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) regulations.GGSIPU lacked both NAAC and NBA accreditation from 2018 to 2023. DTU functioned without NAAC accreditation between 2015 and 2019, and without NBA accreditation from 2018 to 2023. DPSRU did not have either from 2020 to 2023.The process of affiliation through a joint assessment committee inspection mechanism to ensure availability of required physical and academic infrastructure in affiliated colleges was also found inadequate.The audit noted that all three universities had a shortage of classrooms, inadequate infrastructure and non-utilisation of available infrastructure and equipment. Deficit in seating capacity against the number of enrolled students was 26% on the Dwarka campus of GGSIPU, 41% on DTU’s Rohini campus and 59% at DPSRU, which had a seating capacity of only 1,157 for 2,800 enrolled students.There was an acute shortage of teaching staff during 2018-23, ranging from 38.8% to 44.8% in GGSIPU, 21.8% to 54.4% in DPSRU and 55% to 60% in DTU. Three-fourths of the posts of professors and associate professors at DTU remained vacant during the same period.The audit noted an under-utilisation of the intake capacity of students in all three universities. In GGSIPU, the under-utilisation of available seats ranged from 14% to 32% between 2018 and 23. In DTU, it was 8% to 10% and in PG programmes 17% to 32%. In DPSRU, the overall percentage of vacant seats ranged from 11% to 24%, whereas in nine programmes of the university schools, it was between 42% and 100%.