Aiming at providing relief to agitating students, who have been demanding degrees instead of diplomas, the Noida-based Footwear Design and Development Institute (FDDI) has applied to the HRD ministry for Deemed University status.
"The Noida based FDDI has applied for deemed university status and the proposal has been forwarded to the University Grants Commission for advice," sources in the HRD ministry told PTI.
Officials said while the process of granting Deemed to be University status takes a few months as the UGC appoints a committee to evaluate the proposal but hoped that in this case it would be done expeditiously.
FDDI had signed an MoU with Mewar University in 2012 for awarding degrees. But last year, UGC had termed the MoU as illegal, triggering protests by students.
Around 200 students of FDDI in Noida went on rampage last month, ransacking the premises and damaging two buses, to protest against alleged failure of the institute to give them degrees instead of diplomas.
The students of the institute, which comes under the Commerce Ministry, have also been boycotting classes.
Earlier, the Commerce Ministry had recommended to the HRD Ministry to grant deemed university status to FDDI.
Between 2012 and 2014, around 3,609 students had enrolled with the institute.
The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) used to grant degrees for all courses at the institute, but it discontinued the practice in 2012 academic session even as 1,250 students were enrolled for various graduate and post-graduate programmes.
FDDI roped in Mewar University of Rajasthan to offer degree programmes from academic session 2012.
However, UGC in September 2014 raised questions over the MoU between FDDI and Mewar University for grant of degrees as the All India Council for Technical Education did not recognize these degrees.
