Bhubaneswar, May 19: The technical education department has decided to withdraw the autonomous status of Regional College of Management (RCM) from the academic session 2014-15.

The decision was taken on May 7 at the meeting of the board of management of the Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT).

Technical education secretary C.S. Kumar has asked the BPUT authorities to issue a “specific order” and communicate the information to the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), the state government, policy planning body and the institution concerned.

The new rules will be implemented from the 2014-15 academic session, said Kumar.

The department has also decided that all academic activities and the procedures to conduct examinations will be according to the provisions under the Act and statute of the BPUT from this academic year. The department has also asked the varsity authorities to intimate the UGC and the AICTE about the irregularities perpetrated by the college.

The BPUT has been directed to issue a public notice informing all that the college no longer enjoyed “autonomy status” to avoid confusion among parents and students.

Taking to The Telegraph, RCM director Prabir Pal said: “It is really unfortunate that the state government is doing something like this especially when the UGC rules say that colleges with proper facilities and infrastructure must be granted autonomous status. In our case, the government is doing the opposite. They are blackmailing the institution and the students,” said Pal.

The RCM was granted “autonomous” status since 2009. The college was recently in the news when the students launched a three-month long agitation demanding regularisation of their admissions and certificates from BPUT.

The department has decided to regularise those students who took admission between 2009 and 2013.Officials in the department said that the process was on and the certificates would be handed over shortly.