MADURAI: The country’s prestigious St.Stephen’s College in Delhi has been waiting for the last seven years to get autonomous status but it is being denied by the University Grants Commission (UGC) to give autonomy to this college.
“There is Government interference in this matter. Our college must be given autonomous status by the UGC. We applied for autonomy 7 years back, but there is no action from the UGC for reasons known to them,” St.Stephen’s College-Delhi Principal Prof.Dr.John Varghese told ‘Lotus Times’ English media website in Madurai today- on March 27th 2024.
The St.Stephen’s College Principal was in Madurai today to participate in an international conference on ‘Myriad Mysteries: Contemporary Global Perspectives on Language & Literature’ organized by the PG & Research Department of English of The American College, today in hybrid mode with participants from online too.
“We applied for autonomous status in 2017. But till now the UGC has not really acted on it. The UGC had sent a peer team to see the campus,,,,but nothing came out of that till now. St.Stephen’s College in Delhi is a 143-years old institution. There is interference from the government side. St.Stephen’s College is ranked 14th in the latest NIRF rankings in India,” Prof.Dr.John Varghese, Principal, St.Stephen’s College, Delhi, has said today in Madurai.
He was in Madurai to take part in an international conference at American College where he spoke on the changing dynamics of literature and what is to be understood by the present generation because the concept of literature is changing with evolving trends.
Dr.R.Beulah Jeyashree, vice-principal and Head, PG & Research Department of English, Lady Doak College in Madurai, Dr.M.Davamani Christober, Principal and Secretary of American College-Madurai and Dr.J.Paul Jayakar, associate professor and Head (PG) PG & Research Department of English- Dean for International Exchange and Study Abroad-Director of American College Satellite Campus, were among those present at the inaugural session here today.
