MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING

THIS MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING (MoU) is signed at New Delhi on 17th August, 2010.

by & between

Indira Gandhi National Open University hereinafter referred to as ‘IGNOU’, having its headquarter office at Maidan Garhi, New Delhi-110068 represented through its Registrar (Administration) which expression shall unless repugnant to the subject or context mean and include its successors and assignees of the FIRST PART.

and

the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Department of Personnel and Training (Training Division) having its office at Block, IV, Old JNU Campus, New Mehrauli Road, New Delhi-110067, hereinafter referred to as ‘DoPT’ represented by the Joint Secretary, Training which expression shall unless repugnant to the subject or context mean and include its successors and assignees of the SECOND PART. Collectively referred to as parties.

OBJECTIVES

Whereas

A. The Indira Gandhi National Open University is the National Resource Centre for Open and Distance Learning and offers various academic programmes that lead to Certificates, Diplomas and Degrees and develops courses for delivery through the open learning and distance education mode and is also actively involved in research, training and extension education activities.

B. DoPT is, inter alia, responsible for the formation and co-ordination of training policies for the All India and Central Services, and sponsors training programmes on a variety of subjects for different categories of Central and State Employees with a view to increase efficiency at the work place and in the delivery of services. And DoPT seeks to enhance the opportunities for self learning of Central Government Employees (hereinafter referred to as “employees”) in order to meet their diverse needs, provide flexibility in training delivery and thereby improve the human resources of the Government.

C. IGNOU and DoPT have through this MoU come together to provide enhanced opportunities for enabling flexible learning for a wide spectrum of Employees through the varied distance learning courses offered by IGNOU under the “Distance & E- Learning Programmes For Government Employees” (hereinafter referred to as the “DELPGE” and given at Annex 1).

NOW THEREFORE THIS MoU WITNESSETH AS UNDER:

2. OBLIGATION OF DOPT

Activities to be Undertaken:-

The Parties hereby agree to undertake the following activities for Distance & E-Learning Programmes For Government Employees (DELPGE).

A. DoPT will support the DELPGE under the overall policy objective of training for all by:-
a) Reimbursing IGNOU for the course fees incurred by eligible employees who successfully complete the courses as notified from time to time under this Programme. For this purpose DoPT will place an amount of Rs. 20 Lakhs with IGNOU as an initial grant to be adjusted against the reimbursements made by IGNOU.
b) Creating awareness of the Programme among the eligible employees and the faculty members of the Apex State Training Institutes so as to encourage participation
c) Referring those courses which it wishes to convert to distance learning courses to IGNOU to examine the feasibility of doing so.
d) Undertaking consultation with different Ministries/Departments for identification of the programmes to be covered under this MoU.

3. OBLIGATION OF IGNOU

A. IGNOU will support the Programme by:
a) Offering the programmes/modules/courses for eligible Employees as identified jointly by DoPT and IGNOU from time to time.
b) Updating and review the list of programme/courses on offer as per recommendations of DoPT.
c) Reviewing the course content on a regular basis as per the recommendations of the Course Review Committee.
d) Ascertaining the feasibility of converting regular course offered by DoPT through different Institutions into distance learning modules and referred to it for this purpose
e) Following the procedure and conditions of the DELPGE under this MoU.
f) Enrolling 10 to 15 trainers nominated by DoPT for the PG diploma in distance education. The DoPT shall reimburse the fee for these participants.

4. Joint Coordination Committee:

The DELPGE will be administered and coordinated by duly constituted Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) with representatives from Training Division, DoPT and IGNOU. The JCC shall be chaired by Vice Chancellor IGNOU and Co Chaired by Joint Secretary, Training Division. JCC will determine specific responsibilities of both the parties for effective implementation of this MoU.

5. Changes in 'Distance & E-Learning Programmes For Government Employees' (DELPGE) :

Both Parties agree that changes may be made to the DELPGE (Annex 1) by the DoPT without requiring any modification of this MoU. IGNOU shall be consulted in case the changes proposed relate to changes in procedure/conditions they are to follow or abide by.

6. No Partnership, Association, Trust or Joint Venture:

Nothing under this MoU shall be deemed to neither constitute or create an association, trust, partnership or Joint Venture between the parties nor constitute any party the agent of any other party for any purpose.

7. COPYRIGHT

The copyright for the study materials prepared by IGNOU (print, audio, video) shall be held by IGNOU exclusively. DOPT will not make any use of the Study material prepared under this project without the permission of IGNOU.

8. REPRESENTATION AND WARRANTY

The parties hereby represent and warrant to each other that:

a) they are duly established and existing under the laws of jurisdiction stated against their name in this MOU and have the legal power and authority by virtue of statute/resolution, to sign this MOU, perform and comply with their duties and obligations under this MOU.

b) this MOU constitutes legal, valid and binding obligations enforceable
i) against them in accordance with the terms hereof; order or decree or regulation of any court, Governmental instrumentality of functions; or
ii) any other documents or to the best of their knowledge any indenture, contract or MOU to which they are a party or by which it may be bound;

c) there are no actions, suits, writs or proceedings pending, to the best of their knowledge against them before any court, governmental instrumentality or arbitral tribunal or quasi-judicial authority that restrain them from performing their duties and obligations under this MOU; and

d) no representation or warranty made herein contains any untrue statement based on the facts and circumstances.

9. FORCE MAJEURE

The parties to this MOU shall not be liable to each other for failure or delay in the performance of any of its obligations under this MOU for the time and to the extent such failure or delay is caused by riots, civil commotion, wars, hostilities between nations, government laws, orders regulations, embargoes, actions by the government(s) or any agency thereof, act of God, storms, fires, accidents, strikes, sabotages, explosions, or other similar or different contingencies beyond the reasonable control of the respective parties to this MOU.

In the event that either party is, wholly or in part, prevented from or hindered in carrying out or observing any of the terms or conditions of this MOU for any cause set forth hereinabove, such party shall give written notice to the other party by the most expeditious means as soon as possible after the occurrence of the cause relied on, giving full particulars of the reason for such prevention or hindrances, and the parties shall in good faith consult each other and take necessary measures for the resolution of the affairs so prevented or hindered.

10. MATTERS NOT PROVIDED IN

If any doubt arises as to the interpretation of the provisions of this MOU or as to matters not provided therein, parties to this MOU shall consult with each other for each instance and resolve such doubts in good faith.

11. Dispute Resolution:

In case any dispute of any kind whatsoever arises between the parties in connection with or arises out of this MoU, it will be resolved by mutual discussion. In case the disputes are not resolved, only the regular Courts at Delhi/New Delhi will have jurisdiction to adjudicate upon the matter.

i) Either party may terminate the MoU by providing the other parties with three calendar months advance notice. Such termination shall take effect at the end of the three-month period or the end of the programme in progress for all students at that time, whichever shall occur later.

ii) However, either party shall be entitled to terminate this MoU immediately and without further notice in the event of the other party committing a material breach of the terms and conditions of this MoU, and failing to remedy such breach within 60 (Sixty) days after receipt of written notice calling upon such party to remedy the breach complained of.

iii) The termination of this MoU, for whatever reason, will not affect the rights of a party, which might have accrued at the date of termination and will further not affect any rights, which specifically or by their nature survive the termination of this MoU.

iv) However, in case of termination of this MoU for any reason, the responsibility of each party shall continue up to completion of running batches.
 

12. Amendment, Validity, Termination:

No amendment/ modification/renewal or extension of this Memorandum shall be valid unless it is jointly agreed by both the parties through the Joint Coordination Committee. The Memorandum of Understanding is valid for a period of five years from the date of signature subject to modification or termination before completion of five years on mutual agreement by both the parties.

13. Renewal:

On completion of five years, the MoU may be renewed for such periods and on such terms and conditions as may be mutually agreed upon by the parties to this MoU.

14. This MoU is executed in two counterparts each of which shall be deemed original but shall together constitute one document only.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the parties hereto have put their respective hands on the day, month and year first above written.

For and on behalf of IGNOU For and on behalf of DOPT
 

Registrar (Administration)
Indira Gandhi National Open University Maidan Garhi
New Delhi-110068

Joint Secretary (Training)
For President of India

Witness: Witness:

1. _______________________ 1. _______________________
_______________________ _______________________
_______________________ _______________________

2. _______________________ 2. _______________________
_______________________ _______________________
_______________________ _______________________

Annex 1

Distance & E-Learning Programmes for Government Employees (DELPGE)

1. Purpose/Objective

The purpose of the Programme is to increase the availability and flexibility of options open to employees for enhancing their knowledge and skills in order to improve the functioning of Government organisations and the delivery of services to the public.

2. Eligibility:

(i) The Programme is open to Central Government Employees (working in Ministries/Departments/Attached offices) and the faculty members of State Apex Training Institutions. The officers working under Public Sector Undertakings are not eligible for the Programmes covered under this Programme.

(ii) The specific conditions of eligibility of employees (including level of employee and Ministries covered) for each module/course will be decided for each course/module and notified from time to time by DoPT.

3. Types of Courses Offered under the Programme:

The following category of courses are open for enrollment under this programme:

(i) Short-Duration Specialised modules:
The specialised Modules are basically oriented to cater to the requirement of Government employees in a specific domain.

(ii) Certificate Programmes:

(iii) Masters, PG and PG Diploma Programmes.

4. Notification of Courses/Programmes:

The menu of courses/programmes on offer shall be reviewed annually by the Committee headed by the Joint Secretary, Training, Department of Personnel and Training with the members drawn from different Ministries.

Besides recommending the programmes to be offered under this Programme, the Committee shall also make recommendations on the eligibility of the employees of different Ministries for the select courses.

5. Course review committee for upgrading the course material:

(i) For certain Ministry specific courses, respective Nodal Ministry will be represented in the Course review Committee of IGNOU. The committee may also co-opt the following:-

(a) Representative of the nodal Ministry

(b) Director in-charge distance learning in DoPT

The Course Review Committee may meet from time to time to review the course content based on the general feedback and make such recommendations as deemed necessary.

6. Admission Procedure

(i) The employees concerned have to apply directly in response to the admission notification of IGNOU subject to availability of funds.

(ii)The number of seats for Employees in each programme shall be limited to 50 and these will be offered on a first come first served basis.

7. Payment and Reimbursement of Fees:

(i) The employees enrolling for the courses under this Programme will pay the required course fees to IGNOU. The amount so paid shall be reimbursed to the employee on his/her successful completion of the course by IGNOU.

(ii) Employees failing to complete the course in the specified time limits and/or with the minimum qualifying grades prescribed by IGNOU shall not be eligible for any reimbursement.

(iii) Reimbursement for the Masters programme is available to an employee only once in his/her career.

(iv) The participants are eligible to enrol for only one programme at a time under this Programme.

(v) An officer is eligible to claim reimbursement/refund for successful completion of maximum of ten (10) numbers of Units in a block of five (5) years. The equivalent units for each course/programme are listed in the Table below:-

Sl.
No. Category Category / Type of Course / Programme Equivalent Units Maximum Units permissible in a Block of 5 Years

I A
• Certificate
• Advance Certificate
• PG Certificate 2 Units

10 Units
(with different combinations of A, B, C and D)
2 B • Masters 8 Units
3 C • PG Diploma
• Advance Diploma
• Diploma 4 Units
4 D • Select/Specialised Module 1 Unit
(vi) While applying for the programme, the applicant shall enclose an employment certificate as per prescribed Performa (Annex - A).

Annex – A

To whomsoever it may concern
[Insert Photocopy of Employee’s ID Card Here]

*This is to certify that Mr./Ms./Mrs. ___________________________________________ is holding the post of Assistant/Section Officer/Under Secretary/Deputy Secretary/Director/Joint Secretary in [name of the office] and his present pay is ____________ .

*This is to certify that Mr./Ms./Mrs. ___________________________________________ is holding the post of ……………………………. ……. in this Organisation/Office which is equivalent to the post of Assistant/Section Officer/Under Secretary/Deputy Secretary/Director/Joint Secretary in Government of India.

*Strike off whichever is not applicable

Place : _____________________ Signature : __________________
Date: ______________________ Name : _____________________
(in Block letters)
Designation : ________________( Not below the rank of Under Secretary to the Government of India)
Name of Organisation/Office/ _____________________________
Full Postal Address
Official Email Address of the officer
Office/Mobile Telephone Number
(Seal/Stamp) _____________________________