Guwahati, July 31: The UGC has barred the Institute of Distance and Open Learning, the distance education institute of Gauhati University, to admit students in six post-graduate courses.

"The UGC has stopped these courses saying the institute does not have permission to run them," Gauhati University vice-chancellor Mridul Hazarika told The Telegraph.

The subjects which have been closed are education, Nepali, commerce, political science, philosophy and mathematics. Admission to the post-graduate courses will begin tomorrow.

Hazarika said the institute now has permission to offer courses only in eight subjects. "We have applied to them for more subjects. Earlier when the distance education institutions were under the Distance Education Council, there was no system of taking permission. The situation has arisen after the institutions have come under the UGC. They have suddenly stopped these subjects," said Hazarika.

Hazarika said the UGC has not given any reason on why permissions for these courses cannot be given. He said recently he had met the secretary of higher education in New Delhi. "The secretary said they will look into the matter so that they can give us a positive result for next year," he said.

Hazarika said degrees earlier taken on these six subjects by students will remain valid. "The UGC has not cancelled these degrees," he said.

Sources said distance education institutes need to take approval from the UGC every year to run a programme. "The issue will be resolved and students will be able to take admission in the subjects from next year. The issue is temporary in nature," the source said.

The source said many distance educational institutions across the country are facing the same problem.

Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open University (KKHSOU), the state's only government-run full-fledged distance education university, also faced similar issues. The UGC had closed four programmes of the university around six months ago but the latter succeeded to convince the council to allow it to run three of those subjects.

Arupjyoti Choudhuri, KKHSOU dean (academics), said the UGC had closed the masters programme in Assamese and mass communication and undergraduate courses in social work and Sanskrit. "We wrote to the council stating that we had proper infrastructure to run these courses. The council later allowed us to admit students in the subjects except in bachelor of social work," he said.

Sources said the UGC is seeking fresh applications from all distance education institutions. "Earlier, when distance education institutions were under the Distance Education Council matters were a bit flexible. Now, the UGC expects all distance education institutions to follow similar rules and regulations like other regular institutions," the source said.