New Delhi: The government has directed all University Grants Commission (UGC) recognized varsities to launch their own websites and make readily available all information sought by students and aspirants.

After a meeting chaired by Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal here on Friday, a ministry statement said the central government is concerned about "certain practices being adopted that could damage the credibility of the entire university system".

"The central government is of the opinion that directions for information disclosure by universities and higher educational institutions is a question of policy in national interest," the statement added.

As per the decisions taken here, the UGC shall ask all universities and other higher educational institutions recognized by UGC "to have a website in which full and complete disclosure of information shall be furnished by such institutions or universities. There will be information on availability of infrastructure and physical assets, information regarding grants-in-aid provided by the central government or the state government."

There shall also be "information regarding the admission criteria and the process of admissions in respect of all courses of study".

The ministry said that the website must have "information regarding the fee structure, including all its components and information regarding academic curricula in respect of the courses offered and information regarding all study centers, and its locations thereof, opened by the universities and institutions to impart distance education".

UGC shall provide a link to the website of the university or institution in its own website for ease of access by stakeholders. For deemed universities, regulation of fees shall be done by the already constituted state level fee committees. IANS