IIMC Gets Deemed University Status Under Distinct Category, Can Now Award Degrees

The Ministry of Education has granted deemed university status to the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), a prominent institution for journalism and mass communication. With this new status, IIMC is now authorized to offer degrees, including doctoral programs. The UGC had demanded the deemed university status under a distinct category.

The granted status extends to IIMC New Delhi and its five regional campuses located in Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir), Amravati (Maharashtra), Aizawl (Mizoram), Kottayam (Kerala), and Dhenkanal (Odisha).

"On the advice of the UGC (University Grants Commission), the Ministry of Education, in exercise of powers conferred under Section 3 of the UGC Act, 1956, hereby declares the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi, along with its five regional campuses in Jammu, Amravati (Maharashtra), Aizawl (Mizoram), Kottayam (Kerala) and Dhenkanal (Odisha) as an institution deemed-to-be-university under distinct category," the ministry said in an official notification.

"IIMC, New Delhi, shall become compliant with the UGC (Institutions-deemed-to-be-Universities) Regulations, 2023, within a period of six years from the date of issuance of the notification. The entire moveable and immoveable assets will be legally transferred in the name of IIMC, New Delhi, within one year," it said.

IIMC shall not indulge or engage in any activities that are of commercial and profit-making in nature, the notification added.

"A big thanks to the Ministry of Education for declaring IIMC New Delhi and its five regional centres as a Deemed to be University. IIMC is committed to giving its best to promote education, training, and research in mass communication," the institute stated in a post on its social media handle X, formerly Twitter.

A big thanks to the Ministry of Education for declaring IIMC New Delhi and its five regional centres as a Deemed to be University.

IIMC is committed to giving its best to promote education, training, and research in mass communication.@EduMinOfIndia@ianuragthakur@dpradhanbjp

— Indian Institute of Mass Communication (@IIMC_India) January 31, 2024

Established under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, on August 17, 1965, IIMC has maintained its reputation as an elite institution offering quality training in journalism.

The institution currently provides journalism postgraduate diploma programs in English, Hindi, Urdu, Odia, Marathi, Malayalam, radio and television, as well as advertising and public relations. Based at its fully-equipped campus in New Delhi, IIMC operates regional campuses in Dhenkanal (established in 1993), Aizawl (established in 2011), Amravati (established in 2011), Jammu (established in 2012), and Kottayam (established in 1995). These regional campuses offer high-quality media education in the respective regional languages, complementing the variety of courses available at the national level.  Additionally, IIMC serves as the training academy for officers of the Indian Information Service (IIS).

The proposal to confer deemed university status upon IIMC was not a recent one, as it gained approval from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry in 2016. However, the institute, along with the Information and Broadcasting Ministry and the Education Ministry (then HRD), had initially dismissed the proposal.