UGC link

Financial Support
Tenth Plan
Guidelines

 

Financial Support

Establishing/Upgradation of Computer Centres in Universities During the Xth Plan (2002-2007)

Introduction | Objectives | Eligibility Conditions | Functions of the Computer Centre | Nature of Assistance | Resource Generation | Computer Literacy Course (Awareness) | Validity of Earlier Sanctions | Procedure for Applying | Procedure for Approval by the UGC | Release of funds | Procedure for Monitoring Evaluation |

1. Introduction

The UGC has been helping Universities and Colleges through several general as well as specific schemes to keep pace with the developments in the information and communication technologies. Towards this, the University Grants Commission has been assisting the Universities for setting up of Computer Centres since 1970 for (a) research & training; (b) in application of computers in every field/subject (c) supporting the development of MCA/MSc. (Computer Science) programmes and computer application papers at Postgraduate level in certain disciplines.

Keeping in view the latest developments in computer, there would have to be a significant shift in the role and functions and further evolution of the existing Computer Centres and they would have different possible models, depending upon their historical conditions and state of preparedness to face further challenges. Keeping in view the above, the UGC has revised this scheme as enumerated here.

It is therefore expected that each Centre would create its own specific proposal within the broad framework suggested here.

  ^TOP

2. Objective of the Scheme

The Objective of the Scheme is to set up a Computer Centre as a Central facility for the growth and development of teaching, research, other related activities in addition to the work relating to the administration, finance, examination, admission of the University.

  ^TOP

3. Eligibility/Target

All Universities, including deemed to be universities which are included under Section 2(f) and 12B of the Act, 1956 are eligible for assistance under this scheme for setting up or upgradation of a Computer Centre.

  ^TOP

4. Functions of the Computer Centre

  1. To provide a central computing facility with Network Server for all the students and staff of the University.

  2. To make the facility available and also offer possible assistance in conducting their research, analysing their data etc.

  3. To organise and conduct short term courses for the students and staff of the University.

  4. To assist various Departments in the University in computerising their activities.

  5. To establish, coordinate, maintain and administercampus-wise Network including Internet and allied services.

  6. To work as co-ordinating centre in networking with computer centres of other universities for exchange of expertise and software.

  7. To promote and also to undertake Consultancy/Contractual work relating to use of computer facilities or developing software on payment basis, for generating revenue for upkeep/upgrading of computer centre facilities, as per the Rules/Statutes/Ordinances of the Universities. Such work can be carried out either independently or as a joint venture with other professionals from public or private sectors.

  8. To keep track of the latest developments in Computer Hardware/Software technologies internet technologies and collect information, acquire and impart knowledge to the university staff, to collect and collate information/data to facilitate staff and students.

  9. To develop human resource in the field of Information and Communication Technology.

  ^TOP

5. Nature of Assistance Available under the Scheme

I ESTABLISHMENT OF COMPUTER CENTRE:

Financial assistance for setting up of a Computer Centre with UGC assistance for the first time:

In principle there may not be too many restrictions on the size of the grant. It would depend upon the persuasiveness of the proposal from the University and of course would be constrained by the overall availability of funds at the hands of the UGC for this purpose.

Funding would be available generally for Campus LAN, Network components, Servers, common software, PCs for Common PC Lab., Site preparation, etc.

All proposals would be encouraged to adopt a web-centric approach in their requirements. Thus an identification of services to users should be done so that they can be delivered as web-based services at the Intranet, Extranet level or through the open and public Internet web-site. All users of services should not need any thing other than standard browsers to access the services, whether they be students, administrators or techers.

New proposals for establishment of Computer Centre should bear in mind some of the recent trends such as : Grid Computing, Wi-Fi, High speed Internet (Broadband), connectivity with mobile devices and PDA’s., Unicode for developing products in Indian languages.

The ceiling of assistance is given below:

Non-Recurring : Rs. 50.00 lakh

S.No.ItemsAmount
(Rs. in Lakh)
1.Servers10.00
2.Desktop/PCs, Printers etc. 17.00
3.Software and referral material 10.00
4.Network Equipment 5.00
5.Peripherals3.00
6.Preparation of site including AC, UPS, etc. 5.00
 Total50.00

Recurring Assistance:

(i) Staff for Computer Centre

For the Computer Centres established for the first time, the UGC will provide the following staff to be engaged either on permanent basis or on contract basis. The salary of the staff supported by UGC, will be assisted as per actual; for a period of three years beginning from the year in which the system had been installed or from the year in which the first post had been filled up, whichever is later. After three years, it is the responsibility of the University management/State Government to continue the posts and to this extent, concerned authorities will have to submit a letter of commitment to the UGC.

Name of Post & Number of positionsScale of Pay/ EmolumentsEssential Qualifications Experience
Director –
One		 No extra emoluments. Addl. Charge of the existing Dean/ Head of Computer Sc. Department. N.A. N.A.
Sr. System Analyst –
One		 May be appointed in the scale of Rs. 12000-420-18300
OR
On contract/deputation basis, but the total emoluments, if engaged on contract basis, should not be more than the initial salary of the Reader. 		Institutions: I Class M. Tech. (Computer Sc.) ORI Class MCA OR I Class M.Sc. (Computer Sc./ Computer Software). Persons from Industry/ Profession: Master’s Degree in cComputer Science/ Computer Software OR B.E./B. Tech. in Computer Science OR MCA Five year experience in teaching/research/ Computing at the level of System Analyst/Lecturer. Six years experience in teaching/reearch / computing at the level of System Analyst/Lecturer. Candidates of proven ability and 5 years relevant experience in the industry/profession.
System Adminis-trator - One May be appointed in the scale of Rs. 8000-275-13500
OR
On contract/deputation basis, but, the total emoluments, if engaged on contract basis, should not be more than the initial salary of the Lecturer.		 I Class MCA
OR
I Class B.E./B.Tech. in Computer Sc./Engg./ Technology
OR
I Class M.Sc. (Computer Science/ Computer Software)		 ---
---
One year experience of teaching/Computing.
Technical Assistant – One May be appointed in the scale prescribed by the University for the post of Technical Assistant/ Assistant.
OR
On contract/deputation basis, but, the total emoluments, if engaged on contract basis, should not be more than the initial salary of the Technical Asstt./Assistant. 		B.Sc. with diploma in Computer Applications. ----
Personal Assistant. - One May be appointed in the scale prescribed by the University
OR
On contract/deputation basis, but, the total emoluments, if engaged on contract basis, should not be more than the initial salary of the Stenographer/Personal Assistant		 As prescribed by the University for the post of Personal Assistant, but with knowledge of word processing. ----

Additional Staff:

The University may hire additional staff on contract basis to meet any additional requirement of workload. However, no additional grant on this account is admissible.

Training and Acquiring new skills:

There is a need for training in new skills and a continuous upgradation of existing skills. These need to be undertaken periodically as per requirement. Regular training could be organized with the support of other UGC schemes such as the Academic Staff Colleges, Inter-University Consortia, etc.

(ii) Maintenance and Consumables

Maintenance of the Computer System is provided after the warranty period (during which maintenance is provided free by the supplier). However, a grant of Rs. 1.00 lakh is provided for consumables during the first year. During the subsequent period a grant of Rs. 3.00 lakh per annum till the end of the X Plan period is provided for Maintenance of Computer Hardware and consumables.

II Upgradation of Computer Centre:

Because of the rapid changes and limited life of a computer system and the rate of obsolescence, UGC considers to provide Second Time assistance to the University for upgradation of existing Computer Centres approved earlier by the UGC and who have already completed three years and five years. At that time, it also considers up-gradation of the hardware/level of the Computer Centre if it is justified by the needs of the University, as judged by the expert committee in the light of the use to which the university has put the computer system. While assessing the use of the existing facilities of the Computer Centre, the UGC requires the following:-

  1. The number of hours per working day (use of computer) in the lst three years as stated in the log book.

  2. The number of research papers published in referred journals for which Computer Centre facility has been used. Annual data for the last 3 years has to be furnished alongwith the number of the researcher, title of the research paper, the name of the journal and the number/year of the journal in which each paper has been published.

  3. The name of the computer science courses and students/faculty/employees covered by computer literacy/awareness course annually during the last 3 years.

  4. The number and description and consultancy/contractual assignments obtained and the money value of each assignment, alongwith the amount which was made available by the university, for retention in the computer centre for its use annually during the last 3 years.

  5. Annual progress reports for working of the Computer Centres during the last five years.

  6. The upgraduation of the Computer Centre would depend on the assessment of the performance of the Centre .

  7. If necessary, UGC deputes experts to visit the Computer Centre to complete the assessment. The assessment also constitutes the evaluation of the work of the Centre by the UGC.

Financial Assistance (Second Time Assistance) for Upgradation of Computer Centre

Second time assistance would be provided to the Universities for upgradation of existing Computer Centres established with financial assistance from UGC and who have completed three year and five years or more.

The ceiling of assistance would be as under:-

A. The Computer Centre who has completed more than 3 years but less than five years:

Non-Recurring : Rs. 30.00 lakh

S.No.ItemsAmount
(Rs. in Lakh)
1. Servers10.00
2. Desktop/PCs, Printers etc. 8.00
3. Software and referral material8.00
4. Network Equipment2.00
5. Peripherals2.00
  Total30.00

B. The Computer Centre who has completed more than five years:

Non-Recurring : Rs. 40.00 lakh

S.No.ItemsAmount
(Rs. in Lakhs)
1. Servers10.00
2. Desktop/PCs, Printers etc. 15.00
3. Software and referral material10.00
4. Network Equipment3.00
5. Peripherals2.00
  Total40.00

Recurring:

No recurring grant under the Second Time assistance would be provided by the UGC.

  ^TOP

6. Resource Generation

Computing Infrastructure (CI) should be encouraged to generate resources for the Computer Centre. Every university having a Computer Centre with UGC assistance, is expected to make vigorous efforts for securing consultancy/contractual work, both software design and for computation on payment basis within the Statutes/ Ordinance/Rules specified by the University for this purpose. At least 50% of the income from this activity, after deducting the payments due to the individuals, who worked for the project/work, has to remain available to the Coputer Centre for meeting the unforeseen expenditure and to maintain the Computer Centre in good condition. While furnishing accounts and utilization certificates to the UGC, accounts for income obtained from consultancy/contractual work have also to be submitted.

  ^TOP

7. Computer Literacy Course (Awareness)

Every computer centre is expected to conduct at least 3 computer literacy (awareness) courses of minimum two weeks duration every year for students/teachers/university employees. Each of these persons should be charged a fee of not less than Rs. 500/- per courses. This fees should be used for providing material to the learners and for maintenance of the Computer Centre.

  ^TOP

8. Validity of Earlier Sanctions

The UGC has earlier sanctioned posts for Computer Centres differently. These sanctions will remain valid but the posts sanctioned earlier, which have not been filled up so far, are not allowed to be filled up, unless they are covered by the posts permitted under this revised scheme. Similarly, the posts which are vacated henceforth, out of the earlier sanctioned posts, are not allowed to be filled up unless these are covered by the posts sanctioned in this revised scheme.

  ^TOP

9. Procedure for Applying for the Scheme

The Commission will invite the proposals from the eligible Universities.The university may prepare the proposals giving justification for the proposed structure as hardware, software,applications and emphasize there activation to reflect there usefulness to the institute in the past and how the additional infrastructure would provide greater value to the user.

  ^TOP

10. Procedure for Approval By the UGC

A University has to assess its requirements in terms of functions mentioned in this scheme and make an application to the UGC for assistance for setting up/upgradation of Computer Centre. The application should give the justification for acquiring/upgraditing the Computer Centre in the University, the building/faculty available and the hardware needed under the scheme. All the proposals received will be examined by an Expert Committee constituted by the Commission for this purpose. The representatives of the Universities will also be invited for discussion in the meeting. The Expert Committee will assess the needs of the Universities/ Computer Centre and will determine its requirements for the Computer Centre.

The Expert Committee is empowered to modify the hardware requirements request the University representative to submit modified proposal on that basis.

  ^TOP

11. Release of Funds

After approval from the UGC, the University is required to create posts and initiate the selection process. Simultaneously, it is to initiate the purchase procedure.

Non-Recurring grant:

After deciding on the purchase of equipment, the University should seek release of Non-recurring grant. The UGC releases 80% of the sanctioned amount on receiving this information and the balance of 20% after receipt of the reports from the university for installation of the Computer System and satisfactory functioning of the system.

Similarly, after the posts are created, the university has to seek release of funds for the salary of staff by furnishing proof of this action. However, the UGC shall release grant to the University only after receiving concurrence of the State Government/University to take up the liability of the recurring expenditure after availing recurring grants from the UGC up to the X Plan period.

Approval of the UGC for the Computer Centre is valid for 12 months after the date of issue of the approval. If the order for computer system has not been placed and the posts have not been created within this period, the approval lapses, and the university desiring to set up/upgrade the Computer Centre has to get the approval revalidated from the UGC.

Recurring grant:

The recurring grant is sanctioned by the UGC in advance for the first year, after receiving the report of installation of the computer. For subsequent years, recurring grant is released only on receipt of item-wise expenditure for the previous UGC recurring grant and utilization Certificate for the same. Recurring grant for any year has to be claimed at most in the succeeding year because it lapses thereafter and cannot be revived.

  ^TOP

12. Monitoring and Progress Report

The University should send the Progress Report of the Computer Centre at the end of each financial year and also at the time of submitting the Utilization Cetificate of the grants sanctioned to the University under this scheme.

Details for monitoring and Evaluation Committee:

  1. The University will submit annual progress report in the prescribed format to the UGC for the functions undertaken by the Computer Centre:

  2. The UGC will constitute an expert committee to review the progress and activities undertaken by the Computer Centre.

  3. The Committee may visit the University to review & monitor the progress made by the Computer Centre.

  4. The Committee will submit the report to the UGC, highlighting the functions of the Computer Centre, the achievements and short-comings of the Centre, facilities created, equipment procured, staff appointed (nature of appointment), utilization of the funds for the purpose it is given. The Committee may highlight any special point or comments for the smooth functioning of the Computer Centre.

  5. The Expert Committee will submit a report to the Commission for consideration.

  ^TOP

 

Download

Complete Guideline (96 KB)