Finally providing clarity over the fate of 840 students enrolled under the Bachelors (with Honours) in Management Studies (BMS), the University Grants Commission (UGC) on Monday allowed the Delhi University to complete the existing batch. However, it put a rider and directed the university restraining its duration to three years. The decision was taken by the UGC in view of the current dilemma the students were facing. The university will also require to seek requisite approval from All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).
BMS was introduced in DU along with the four-year undergraduate programme (FYUP) after combining three courses - Bachelors in Business Studies (BBS), BA (Honours) in Business Economics (BBE) and Bachelor of Financial & Investment Analysis (BFIA). Speculations were that the course would be removed from the entitlement of BMS and brought back to these three courses for the current batches after the scrapping of FYUP. However, now these students will get a BMS degree but the course would not be taught for four years.
In the letter issued by the UGC to the university, Secretary Jaspal Singh Sandhu said, “Students already admitted to the four-year BMS programme during 2013-14 only by the various colleges under the university may continue in this programme. However, the duration of the programme shall be of three years.”
The colleges which admitted students in 2013-14 have also been asked to get necessary sanctions for the same to ensure that students admitted in the programme are not put to any disadvantage. “As such, for this purpose, the colleges under DU, which admitted students in academic year 2013-14 to the BMS programme may, wherever required, obtain appropriate approval of the regulatory bodies such as the UGC itself and the AICTE,” added Sandhu.
The UGC had on Sunday asked DU to continue the BTech courses for the current batch after getting approvals from the AICTE. However, no word was out on BMS.