University Grants Commission office (File Photo)

NEW DELHI: Five years after the controversial Four Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP) was scrapped, a UGC committee has recommended the introduction of the four-year degree for promoting and improving quality of research in colleges and universities.

The four-member committee which recently submitted its report to the University Grants Commission (UGC) is not the only one pitching for transition to a four-year programme from the current three year undergraduate courses, but the HRD ministry appointed panel working on the new National Education Policy (NEP) had also recommended the programme among undergraduate courses reforms.

"Increase the number of universities offering the four-year undergraduate programme, with a strong research component to provide the pipeline for good quality students for the doctoral programme," the committee headed by professor P Balaram, former director, Indian Institute of Science , Bangalore, said in its report.

"Also, the existing two-year MA and MSc programs should have a research project with a requirement of typically 6-10 credits. It may be important to stop undergraduate programmes that are limited in scope (for example in specialised subjects like Biotechnology or Bioinformatics ), as they provide

