Delhi University To Set Up Incubators And Promote Innovation, Will Form Separate Company

The Delhi University (DU) would set up two not-for-profit companies to seek funds from its alumni and to promote innovation, said DU vice chancellor Yogesh Singh.

The university has entered its centenary year, so there should be some policy reforms to make the university a better place, said Singh. 

The university has asked for a loan from Higher Education Funding Agency (HEFA), he told PTI. Its executive council last month had approved a loan of more than INR 1,000 Cr from HEFA for infrastructure development and the creation of capital assets.

They are creating a Section 8 company for generating funds for the university, the VC said.

“The Section 8 company will ask for funds from alumni and from companies under their CSR activities. It will be an independent company of DU and will have a professional CEO. The funding will be used for developing the university,” he said.

On the other hand, the second company will work on incubators and promote innovation. The forms for the companies are going to be submitted soon. The university would advertise for the posts of CEOs for the two companies after the approval, he said. 

According to the Companies Act 2013, the Section 8 companies are those that are set up for charitable objectives, and prohibit payment of any dividend to its members. 

In the last couple of years, the university has slipped in both national and international rankings. 

The DU slipped by a spot to the 12th position in 2021 and was ranked behind JNU and Jamia Millia Islamia that had bagged the second and sixth positions respectively in the NIRF university rankings issued by the Education Ministry. 

Moreover, Delhi University was ranked 11th in 2020, 13th in 2019, and seventh in 2018. Even in the overall ranking, the varsity slipped by one spot to 19th in 2021. In 2020, it was ranked 18th, up from 20th in 2019. It was ranked 14th in 2018.

“For the rankings to improve, our target is to increase the quantum of research,” said Singh.

The university had scored 42.65 in teaching, learning, and resources (TLR), way behind JNU (71.19) and Jamia Millia Islamia (66.44) in the last year’s NIRF rankings.

What is Section 8 Company? 

A company is referred to as Section 8 Company when it is registered as a Non-Profit Organization (NPO) to promote arts, education, commerce, charity, environment protection, sports, science, research, social welfare, religion and intends to use its profits (if any) or other income for promoting these objectives.

The income of NPO can not be used for paying dividends to the company’s members and has to be for the promotion of charitable objectives. Such companies obtain an incorporation certificate from the government and are liable to adhere to the rules specified by the government.

According to the rules, failure to comply with the responsibilities stated by the central government may lead to the winding up of the company on the government orders. Besides, strict legal action will be taken against all the members of the company if the objectives laid down by it proves to be bogus.

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