Indira Gandhi National Open University

Indira Gandhi National Open University known as IGNOU, is a Central University located at Maidan Garhi, New Delhi, India. Named after former Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi, the university was established in 1985 with a budget of ₹20 million, after the Parliament of India passed the Indira Gandhi National Open University Act, 1985 (IGNOU Act 1985).[3] IGNOU is run by the central government of India, and with total active enrollment of over 4 million students, claims to be the largest university in the world.[4][1]

Indira Gandhi National Open University

Logo of IGNOU
Motto	The People's University
Type	Public, Central University
Established	1985
Founder	Government Of India
Chancellor	President of India (Ram Nath Kovind)
Vice-Chancellor	Nageshwar Rao
Students	over 7 million[1][2]
Location	Maidan Garhi , Delhi , India
Regional centres	67
Website	www.ignou.ac.in

IGNOU was founded to serve the Indian population by means of distance and open education, providing quality higher education opportunities to all segments of society. It also aims to encourage, coordinate and set standards for distance and open education in India, and to strengthen the human resources of India through education.[5][6] Apart from teaching and research, extension and training form the mainstay of its academic activities. It also acts as a national resource centre, and serves to promote and maintain standards of distance education in India.[6] IGNOU hosts the Secretariats of the SAARC Consortium on Open and Distance Learning (SACODiL) and the Global Mega Universities Network (GMUNET), initially supported by UNESCO.

IGNOU has started a decentralisation process[7] by setting up FIVE zones; north, south, east, west and north-east. The first of the regional headquarters, catering to four southern states, Pondicherry , Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep , is being set up in the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala. The Ministry of HRD has entrusted the responsibility of developing Draft Policy on Open and Distance Learning and Online Courses to IGNOU.[8] IGNOU also partners up with other organizations to launch courses. IGNOU offers a BBA in Retail distance learning course in association with Retailers Association of India (RAI).[9]

Recently, the university has implemented the CBCS method to the various bachelors degree courses including BA, BAVTM, BCOM, BSC and others. As per the new CBCS system, the examination will be conducted through semester system that was earlier conducted on an annual mode.

History

In 1970, the Ministry of Education and Social Welfare organised a seminar on 'Open University' in collaboration with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the UGC and the Indian National Commission for Cooperation with UNESCO. After the seminar recommendation, an open university in India has been established on an experimental basis. Starting in 1974, the government of India appointed an eight-member working group on the open university, the leading role was given to G. Parthasarathi, the then Vice-Chancellor of the Jawaharlal Nehru University.

The working group recommended establishing an open university by an act of parliament as early as possible. They recommended that the university should have jurisdiction over the entire country so that, once it is fully developed, any student even in the remotest corner of the country can have access to its instruction and degrees (Working Group Report, 1974).

The working group suggested several measures to be followed in instructional and management processes of the open university which included: admission procedure, age relaxation, preparation of reading materials, setting up of core group scholars in different fields, setting up of study centres, vehicle of curricular programmes, live contact with teachers and so on. On the basis of the recommendations of the working group, the Union Government prepared a draft bill for the establishment of a National Open University, but due to some reasons the progress was delayed.

Vice Chancellors
Prof. G. Ram Reddy, 1985–1990 Prof. V C Kulandaiswamy, 1990–1995 Prof. Ram G Takwale, 1995–1998 Prof. A W Khan, 1998–2001 Prof. H P Dikshit, 2001–2006 Prof. V. N. Rajasekharan Pillai, 2006–2011 Prof. M Aslam, 2011–12 Prof. Gopinath Pradhan, 2012–2013 Prof. M. Aslam, 2013–2017 Prof. Nageshwar Rao-2018–Present

The front gate of the university campus in New Delhi

Timely publication of Results within 45 days of completion of exam
Dec'2010 Date of publication of result : 03-Feb-2011 June'2011 Date of publication of result : 04-Aug-2011 Dec'2011 Date of publication of result : 03-Feb-2012 June'2012 Date of publication of result : 06-Aug-2012 Dec'2012 Date of publication of result : 04-Feb-2013 June'2013 Date of publication of result : 08-Aug-2013 Dec'2013 Date of publication of result : 03-Mar-2014

In 1985, the Union Government made a policy statement for establishment of a national open university. A Committee was constituted by the Ministry of Education to chalk out the plan of action of the national Open University. On the basis of the report of the Committee, the Union Government introduced a Bill in the Parliament. In August 1985, both the Houses of the Parliament passed the Bill. Subsequently, the Indira Gandhi National Open University came into existence on 20 September 1985, named after the late prime minister.

In 1989, the first Convocation was held and more than 1,000 students graduated and were awarded their diplomas. IGNOU audio-video courses were first broadcast by radio and television in 1990 and IGNOU awarded degrees received full recognition by the University Grants Commission in 1992 as being equivalent to those of other universities in the country.[10]

In 1999, IGNOU launched the first virtual campus in India,[11] beginning with the delivery of Computer and Information Sciences courses via the Internet.

As of 2011 IGNOU has served over 3 million students in India and 40 other countries abroad.[12] These are UAE, UK, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Mauritius, Maldives, Ethiopia, Namibia, Kenya, Myanmar, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, China, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Fiji, France, Ghana, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Madagascar, Liberia, West Indies, Samoa, Lesotho, Malawi, Switzerland, Nigeria, Mongolia and Zambia.

Schools

[13] IGNOU has 21 schools and a network of 67 regional centres, 2667 study centres, and 29 overseas centres (in 15 countries). Approximately 20% of all students enrolled in higher education in India are enrolled with IGNOU.[14] IGNOU offers 226 academic programs comprising courses at certificate, diploma and degree levels. [15]

SCHOOL	DIRECTOR
School of Humanities	Prof. Neera Chaddha
School of Social Sciences	Dr. Rashmi Sinha
School of Sciences	Prof. Sujatha Varma
School of Education	Prof. Saroj Pandey
School of Continuing Education	Prof. Heena K Bijli
School of Engineering & Technology	Dr. Rakhi Sharma
School of Management Studies	Prof. Ravi Shankar
School of Health Sciences	Prof. T K Jena
School of Computer & Information Sciences	Dr. V. V. Subrahmanyam
School of Agriculture	Prof S K Yadav
School of Law	Prof K Elumalai
School of Journalism and New Media Studies	Dr. O P Debal
School of Gender & Development Studies	Prof Neelima Srivastava
School of Tourism Hospitality Service Management	Prof. Jitendra Kumar Shrivastava
School of Interdisciplinary & Trans-disciplinary Studies	Dr. Shubhangi Vaidya
School of Social Work	Prof. Gracious Thomas
School of Vocational Education and Training	Prof. Ashok Gaba
School of Extension & Development Studies	Prof. B K Patnaik
School of Foreign Languages	Prof. Nandini Sahu
School of Translation Studies and Training	Dr Jagdish Sharma
School of Performing & Visual Arts	Prof. Sunil Kumar

Divisions

The Indira Gandhi National Open University has the following eleven Divisions to take care of various administrative activities within the university.

DIVISION	HEAD
Academic and Coordination Division	Dr. Dev Kant
Administrative Division	Dr. V. B. Negi
Construction and Maintenance	Sudheer Reddy
Computer Division	Dr A Murli M Rao
International Division	Prof. B B Khanna
Finance and Accounts Division	Mr. J D Gangawar
Library and Documentation Division	Dr Seema Chandhok
Material Production and Distribution	Prof MSS Raju
Planning and Development Division	Dr. Pankaj Khare
Regional Services Division	Dr. M Shanmugham
Student Evaluation Division	Dr. V. B. Negi
Student Registration Division	Dr. H. K. Bose

Research Unit

The Research Unit has been established at the Indira Gandhi National Open University vide notification dated 6 October 2008. Prior to that, research-related activities were looked after by the Academic Coordination Division. The Unit has been established with the following objectives:

• To conduct Research Council and Research Council's Standing Committee meetings for developing policies and frameworks for the conduct of research activities.
• To register and monitor all full-time and part-time MPhil and PhD candidates.
• To engage Research Teaching Assistants under IGNOU-DEC RTA Scheme for conduct of research and teaching.
• To conduct workshops/seminars on research methodology for full-time and part-time research candidates.
• To facilitate systemic/discipline based research in the University.

Institutes, Cells, Centres, Units

NAME OF INSTITUTE/CENTRE/CELL/UNIT	DIRECTOR
Electronic Media Production Center	Mr Ravikanth
National Centre for Innovations in Distance Education	Dr O P Sharma
Center for online Education	Prof Uma Kanjilal
Staff Training and Research Institute of Distance Education	Prof Satyanarayan
National Council for Disability Studies	Dr Hemlata
Research Unit	Dr. Bijayalaxmi
Horticulture Cell	Dr. S.K. Yadav

Accreditation & recognition

(IGNOU) has been granted the authority to confer degrees by Clause 5(1)(iii) of the IGNOU Act 1985. IGNOU is also recognised as a Central University by the University Grants Commission of India (UGC).[16] The Association of Indian Universities (AIU) recognises IGNOU conferred degrees as on par with the degrees conferred by its members[17][18] and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) recognises the Master of Computer Applications and Master of Business Administration program of IGNOU.[19]

In 1993, IGNOU was designated by the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) as its first Centre of Excellence for Distance Education empowered "to actively participate in Commonwealth co-operative endeavours to identify, nurture, and strengthen open learning institutions throughout the Commonwealth, particularly in the Third World ..".[20]

IGNOU also operates as an accreditor for open university and distance education systems in India through the Distance Education Council (DEC). Authority to do so is granted under Clause 16 and Statute 28 of the IGNOU Act 1985.[21]

Convocations in the past

Convocation	Held On	Chief Guest	Designation	Honoris causa Awarded	Number of Degrees/ Diplomas/ Certificates/ Awarded
Ist	21 February 1989	Rajiv Gandhi	Prime Minister	Dr. Shridath S. Ramphal, Secretary General, COL	1171
IInd	27 April 1991	Dr. S. D. Sharma	Vice President	SANGRAM	3807
IIIrd	25 April 1992	Arjun Singh	Minister for Human Resource Development		4907
IVth	5 May 1993	R. Venkataraman	Former President of India	G. Ram Reddy, Former VC of IGNOU	4444
Vth	16 April 1994	James A Maraj	President of COL	James A Maraj, President of COL	7580
VIth	06.05.1995	Madhav Rao Scindia	Ministry for Human Resource Development		9246
VIIth	11.05.1996	Justice R.N. Mishra	Chairman, National Human Rights Commission		12301
VIIIth	08.03.1997	Madhu Dandavate	Deputy chairman, Planning Commission		16149
IXth	07.03.1998	Krishna Kanth	Vice President		25080
Xth	14 March 1999	Dr. Karan Singh	Member of Parliament	Mahasweta Devi, Eminent Writer & Social Worker	33119
XIth	04.03.2000	K. C. Pant	Deputy chairman Planning Commission	V. C. Kulandaiswamy, Former VC of IGNOU	53328
XIIth	3 March 2001	M. G. K. Menon	Eminent Scientist		62369
XIIIth	21 March 2002	Murali Manohar Joshi	Minister for Human Resource Development		78074
XIVth	22 February 2003	Sir John Daniel	Assistant Director General, UNESCO and Former VC of UKOU	Sir John Daniel Dr. K. Kasturirangan, Chairman, ISRO	81931
XVth	21 February 2004	Dr. K. Kasturirangan	Former chairman, ISRO and Former Secretary Department of Space, Government of India, Member of Rajya Sabha	Field Marshal S. H. F. J. Manekshaw Shaikh Khalifa Bin Salman Al-Khalifa	74603
XVIth	05.03.2005	Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam	President of India	Kamal Idris, Director General, World Intellectual Property Organisation(WIPO), Geneva Dr. G. Madhavan Nair, Chairman, ISRO	71298
XVIIth	18 February 2006	Dr. Anil Kakodkar	Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission and Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy, Govt. of India	N.R. Narayana Murthy, Chairman, Infosys	75174
XVIIIth	17 March 2007	Justice K. G. Balakrishnan	Chief Justice of India	M. S. Swaminathan, Renowned Agricultural Scientist	111699
XIXth	16 February 2008	Dr. Hamid Ansari	Vice- president, Republic of India	C. N. R. Rao Dr. Anil Kakodkar M.S. Valiathan Pandit Shiv Kumar Rahman Rahi Indira Goswami	101346
XXth	28 February 2009	R Natarajan	Former chairman AICTE Former Director IIT Madras
XXIst	15 March 2010	S K Joshi	Former Director General CSIR	Gen. Deepak Kapoor	135,000
XXVIst	12 April 2013	Shri.Pranab Mukherjee	13th President of India (2012–2017)		158,387
XXVIIst	16 April 2014	Shri.Ashok Thakur	Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development

See also

• List of universities in India
• Universities and colleges in India
• Education in India
• Education in Delhi
• Distance Education Council
• University Grants Commission (India)

References

1. "Profile of IGNOU - Preamble". Ignou.ac.in. Archived from the original on 16 December 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
2. "In 9 yrs, number of SC students at Ignou rose by 248%, STs by 172% - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
3. "THE INDIRA GANDHI NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY ACT, 198" (PDF). Government of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 April 2012. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
4. "Constant learning through distance education". Deccan Herald. 6 June 2013. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
5. IGNOU Website: Objectives Archived 23 April 2007 at the Wayback Machine (URL last accessed on 29 April 2007)
6. "About IGNOU". Retrieved 29 July 2013.
7. CORRESPONDENT, A. SPECIAL. "Success story". Frontline. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
8. "IGNOU - Announcements - Latest - New Education Policy: Survey on Open and Distance Learning and Online Courses". ignou.ac.in. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
9. "Retail through distance mode". The Times of India.
10. IGNOU Website: Milestones Archived 23 April 2007 at the Wayback Machine (URL last accessed on 29 April 2007)
11. Newsbytes: IGNOU Launches First Virtual University in India, 6 July 1999 (URL last accessed on 29 April 2007)
12. "Profile of IGNOU – Preamble". Ignou.ac.in. Archived from the original on 16 December 2014. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
13. IGNOUHelp Website: – Overview of IGNOU
14. IGNOU Website: – IGNOU At A Glance
15. IGNOU Helpline: – IGNOU Courses
16. UGC Website: Universities Directory – Indira Gandhi National Open University (URL last accessed on 29 April 2007)
17. UGC: UGC Circular No. F1-52/2000 (CPP-II), 5 May 2004
18. AIU: AIU Circular No. EV/B(449)/94/176915-177115,January 14, 1994
19. AICTE: AICTE/Academic/MOU-DEC/2005, May 13, 2005 Archived 27 May 2007 at the Wayback Machine
20. COL Website: IGNOU named "Centre of Excellence" Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine, COMLEARN, October 1993 (URL last accessed on 29 April 2007)
21. DEC Website: Statutory Authority Archived 3 February 2007 at the Wayback Machine

External links

• Official website