The Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), a prominent institution which specializes in Journalism and Mass Communication, has attained the status of a deemed university that allows it to confer degrees instead of diplomas, as announced by officials on Wednesday.
The deemed-to-be-university status has been granted to IIMC New Delhi and its five regional campuses situated in Jammu (Jammu & Kashmir), Amravati (Maharashtra), Aizawl (Mizoram), Kottayam (Kerala), and Dhenkanal (Odisha). With this designation, IIMC is now authorized to confer degrees, including doctoral degrees.
Established under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India, on August 17, 1965, the institute is a premier institution in the country, offering high-quality training in journalism and conducting meaningful research in the field of media and mass communication. IIMC also serves as the training academy for Indian Information Service (IIS) officers.
The institute expressed gratitude to the UGC for the declaration and stated, “A big thank you to the UGC for declaring the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi, and its five regional centres as a Deemed to be University under a distinct category. IIMC is committed to giving its best to promote education, training, and research in mass communication,” on X.
The decision to confer deemed university status to IIMC is not a recent development; the plan was approved by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry in 2016. In 2018, during a higher education institute review by Niti Aayog, there was a recommendation to merge IIMC with either Jawaharlal Nehru University’s Centre for Media Studies or Jamia Millia Islamia’s AJK Mass Communication Research Centre.
However, this proposition was rejected by the institute, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, and the Education Ministry (then HRD).