Among the major beneficiaries would be students of Pune-based universities offering postgraduate courses.

Explaining the scheme, Sukhdev Thorat, chairman, UGC said, “For instance, an MPhil or a PhD student from the University of Pune will be able to study one or two credit courses offered by the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Delhi, with mutual consent between the two universities.” He said the UGC has also decided to provide financial support for the universities to make arrangements for building infrastructure for research students. The UGC is expected to launch the scheme the coming academic year.

A credit course is a subject typically recognised in lecture-hours and evaluated by calculating the CGPA.

Dr Vidya Yerawadekar, UGC member and principal-director of the Symbiosis International University (SIU), said that a proposal to introduce a similar scheme for post-graduate courses has also been put up by the UGC members. “The proposal is expected to come up for ratification at the next UGC meeting,” she said.

The flexibility offered by the scheme will permit students to study subjects related to their core interests without being restricted by geographical boundaries.

Dr Gajanan Ekbote, senate member of the University of Pune, said the facility would enable a student to learn credit courses that a university specialises in. “For instance, if the chemistry department of Symbiosis is strong and a student from UoP, which hypothetically does not have that strong a chemistry department, will be able to take credit courses from Symbiosis,” he said.

At present, students can share credit courses only within the university departments.

This scheme will benefit students in the University of Pune, Bharati Vidyapeeth University and Symbiosis International University that follow the CGPA system.