Lucknow: Finally, All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) hasgiven its nod of approval to the MBA (Master of Business Administration) course run by Lucknow University, for the session 2009-10. Also, Institute of Management Sciences (IMS), Lucknow University, is being given an extension of approval for six of its MBA programmes.
As per sources, AICTE has given consent of extension on annual basis, on compulsory disclosures and observance report, which is required to be submitted prior to admissions for the following year. Even though the university had submitted its observance report for academic session 2008-09 on time, the list of approvals on the official website of the AICTE continuously displayed compliance report not submitted. The reason behind it was the delay in getting the approval, as the university had filed one single compliance report for all MBA programmes running in two separate entities - Department of Business Administration and IMS.
According to the statement by a University official, the University doesn't require AICTE approval to run the courses, but still it opted for the same, to increase marketability of the courses. The university comes under the provisions of section 2 (f) of the UGC Act, meaning that it receives state and UGC grant for its operations. He further mentioned that the degrees of any university created by law are not based on AICTE approval. The fact has also been supported by the Supreme Court, in one of its judgment. Therefore, the conclusion is that the MBA degrees, offered by IMS, are legal. The University has also submitted a separate proposal, seeking approval for other MBA programmes, such as MBA (HR & IR), MBA (Retail Management), MBA (Agri-business), MBA (RDM), MBA (Petroleum Technology & Management) and MBA (part-time).
