Indira Gandhi National Open University

1985 (IGNOU Act 1985). IGNOU, the largest university in the world with 3,500,000 students; was founded to impart education by means of distance and open education, provide higher education opportunities particularly to the disadvantaged segments of society, to encourage, coordinate and set standards for distance and open education in India and strengthen the human resources of India through education. Apart from teaching and research, extension and training form the mainstay of its academic activities. It also acts as a national resource centre, and serves to promote and maintain standards of distance education in India. IGNOU hosts the Secretariats of the SAARC Consortium on Open and Distance Learning (SACODiL) and the Global Mega Universities Network (GMUNET) initially supported by UNESCO. IGNOU has now started it decentralisation process by setting up five zones, viz, north, south, east, west and north east. The first of the regional head quarters, catering to four southern states, Pondicherry, Andaman and Nicobar and Lakshadweep is being set up in the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala.