New Delhi: The University Grants Commission has warned universities against conducting animal dissections without registration with the government's regulatory committee and asked errant institutions to immediately register themselves.

The commission had banned undergraduate animal dissections in 2011 and extended the prohibition to the postgraduate level in 2014, prompting academics to accuse it of denying students practical knowledge and turning zoology into a dead discipline.

Following this, the commission formed the Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals, a regulatory committee working under the supervision of the environment and forests ministry.

Establishments looking to conduct animal experiments or breeding, including universities whose life science and zoology courses mandate animal dissections, are required to register with the committee.

"There are still some unregistered establishments and varsities conducting animal research (which are) not compliant with the guidelines of the (committee). They are required to do so (register themselves) on a priority basis," commission secretary P.K. Thakur has written to the vice-chancellors of all universities, asking them to alert their affiliated colleges.

The committee's functions include inspecting animal housing facilities for approval, deciding whether to permit animal imports and experiments, and punishing violations.

In 2014, the commission had said the use of computer simulation, interactive CD-ROMs, films and lifelike models to teach anatomy and complex biological processes was better than conducting animal experiments, which it described as cruel and archaic.

It had warned that educational institutions violating the order would be booked under the Wildlife Protection Act and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. PTI