Plans on track to make IIMC a global media university: Soni

19 June :  Plans to convert Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) into a global media university is on track, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Ambika Soni said on Friday."Under the 11th Plan period, Rs 45 crore has been sanctioned for making IIMC a global media university and the Planning Commission had already approved it," Soni told reporters at an informal meeting.

She added that the consultant appointed by her ministry has given its report, which has been accepted by the task force formed for the project.

"Currently we are awaiting clearance for spending the funds and once that is done, we will start work on it".

The minister said that though initially they had thought of converting IIMC into a deemed university, the idea was dropped by the ministry as it is a lengthy process.

"We considered all options but opted for the Special Act route rather than the deemed university status option as there are a lot of UGC's procedures involved in the latter," the Union minister said.

"Moreover, we give diplomas and not degrees and due to this reason also we chose to make IIMC a global university through the Special Act route. Our consultant also suggested this option," the minister added.

Soni said that the ministry has even kept the drafts of the Special Act ready and once the funding is available, work will start on converting IIMC into a global university.
--
By :  News Team