HC ‹ays health university for rejecting plea to recognise paramedical degrees

The Kerala High Court has criticised the Kerala University of Health Sciences for refusing to recognise paramedical courses, including BSc Medical Laboratory Technology (MLT)/ MSc MLT and allied health courses, for employment and higher studies, despite a decision to the e ect made by the Kerala State Higher Education Council (KSHEC).

Petitioner’s contention

The court made this observation recently while allowing a writ petition †led by Litto K.S. from Kasaragod against the university’s action rejecting his request to recognise his BSc MLT degree obtained from the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS), Karnataka.

Kasaragod native les petition against varsity for rejecting request to recognise BSc MLT degree from a Karnataka varsity

Committee decision

The court noted that the university failed to consider its own involvement which led to the State Level Academic Committee — the apex body of the KSHEC — deciding to accord recognition to paramedical courses accredited by regulatory bodies such as the University Grants Commission (UGC).

According to the petitioner, both the KSHEC and the government had issued orders for a reciprocal recognition of degrees from Indian universities and other higher education institutions recognised by the UGC.

Hence, the university should not insist on equivalency of degrees from such institutions.

Additionally, the petitioner highlighted that the Vice-Chancellor was part of the State Level Academic Committee which had decided to accord equivalence/recognition to paramedical courses such as BSc MLT/MSc MLT and allied health courses recognised by regulatory bodies such as the UGC.

In six weeks

The court also directed the university to reconsider and make a decision within six weeks on the petitioner’s application with due regard to the decision of the State Higher Education Council.