UGC to launch 'e - Samadhan' portal to resolve grievances of students, staff

'e- Samadhan' portal ensures transparency, prevents unfair practices in Higher Education Institutions and provides a time-bound mechanism for redressal of grievances, according to the UGC, reported ANI.

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New Delhi: Higher education sector regulator University Grants Commission (UGC) will now monitor and resolve all grievances of students and staff in varsities through a centralised portal called `e-Samadhan`, which will be made operational next week, an official said.

"The resolution of institutional entity grievances has always been a top priority of the commission and in a step towards that, the UGC has come up with the e-Samadhan-Online Grievance Registering and Monitoring System which is a digital platform for stakeholders to identify and apply for grievances, feedback or queries," the official said.

This platform ensures transparency, prevents unfair practices in Higher Education Institutions and provides a time-bound mechanism for redressal of the grievances, according to the UGC.The commission has merged its existing portals and helplines except for the anti-ragging helpline and developed the new portal, an official statement read.

"UGC e-samadhan, a step forward for the service to stakeholders which would be a single Window system for all the stakeholders for registering their complaints/ grievances on the portal which would be available all the time at the click of a mouse. A toll free No. 1800-111-656 will also be available on UGC website 24x7 for lodging complaints by the stake holders on any issue faced by them" it further said.

The official told ANI that the user would be able to register a grievance by following a simple procedure with the help of a mail ID or making a phone call on toll-free number. "The complaint gets recorded and a docket number shall be allotted which would be automatically reflected in the concerned bureau head`s accounts. The concerned bureau shall resolve the issues within the stipulated time," it added.

For effective implementation, the concerned Bureau Head will review the complaints on a daily basis while the secretary or the chairman will do it weekly."Students can file various complaints through a single platform. It will be easier to track the progress of the complaints due to proper documentation and docket numbers. It would help to identify the institutions which are not responding to the grievances to take stringent measures by the Commission," the UGC official informed.

Earlier, UGC provided various mechanisms. Due to the non-availability of a single-window system, stakeholders were registering multiple complaints/complaints at different places. Due to this, the redressal mechanism was working at a slow pace, which was causing further concern to the stakeholders.

University Grants Commission has vast and vide stakeholders composition which includes 1043 Universities, 42343 Colleges, 3.85 Crore Students and 15.03 Lacs Teachers ( AISHE 2019-20)