Days after the University Grants Commission (UGC) termed 16 universities from Madhya Pradesh “defaulters” for not appointing ombudsmen to handle student grievances, one of them described the move as “unfortunate” and stated they had already complied with the requirement, reports PTI.

As per the report, Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism and Communication (MCU) said it has appointed retired Chief District and Sessions Judge Om Prakash Sunarya as its adjudicator (ombudsman).

According to a statement from the university, MCU appointed Sunarya as ombudsman for three years from the date of joining, after adhering to UGC standards.

It stated that Sunarya was named the ombudsman on June 6 and he took charge the next day.

MCU Vice-Chancellor Prof (Dr) KG Suresh described the UGC's decision to place the university in its June 19 defaulters' list in the press release as "unfortunate", states PTI.

“We had completed the process two months back but due to the model code of conduct (for Lok Sabha polls), the notification could not be issued. We issued the notification on June 7 and informed UGC on June 13 but to our shock and surprise, we found our name in the list issued by UGC on June 19,” he said in the statement, reports PTI.

According to Prof Suresh, they have written to the UGC secretary requesting him to revise the list after MCU has been removed.

The UGC alerted the universities nationwide on April 11 of last year about the Redressal of Grievances of Students Regulations 2023 and asked them to choose ombudspersons within 30 days, according to sources in the MP education department, reports PTI.

It sent reminders to the universities to comply with its directive.

On January 17, eighteen universities from MP figured in the UGC's defaulters' list, they said.

In the latest UGC list of June 19, nine private and seven government universities from the state figured, suggesting that two varsities had appointed ombudspersons after the January list, reports PTI.