HRD Minister Smriti Irani promises to release IGNOU degrees of Armymen
Irani is learnt to have summoned IGNOU officials and directed them to speedily grant degrees to those who met the criterion.
Union HRD minister Smriti Irani has assured the Armed Forces that their degree issue at the Indira Gandhi National Open University will be expeditiously sorted out. Reacting to a report in MAIL TODAY, Irani said she had held a meeting with representatives of IGNOU and the Army and had directed officials in the HRD ministry to expedite the award of degrees.
"The issue of pending certificates of Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel was resolved in January itself,'' Irani told Mail Today. The Army and IAF signed an MoU with IGNOU for bachelor's degrees for their retiring personnel after completion of two years in service and one year at IGNOU.
However, despite paying the fee amount and undergoing the course, more than two lakh soldiers and Air Force personnel were denied a degree. Failing to see a redressal of their complaints from IGNOU vice-chancellor Prof M Aslam, the armed forces decided to abandon IGNOU and approached the Yashwant Rao Chavan Maharashtra Open University for their soldiers. As a last ditch effort, the military brass also approached the HRD minister to intervene on their behalf.
Irani is learnt to have summoned IGNOU officials and directed them to speedily grant degrees to those who met the criterion. Till February 2012, 4.57 lakh soldiers got themselves enrolled in the 'Gyandeep' scheme by paying a fee of Rs 34.25 crore.
"The vertical mobility scheme would mean that as soon as soldiers retire after 17 years of service and enter the civilian street they would automatically be armed with a bachelor's degree. However, IGNOU unilaterally put the scheme on hold while playing with the careers of literally thousands and thousands of retiring soldiers,'' sources said.
"IGNOU needs to explain why soldiers were treated so poorly," sources said.