The project had been taken up by IGNOU with the help of the Ministry of Rural Areas and Development, the objective being to empower the rural masses for effective participation in self-governance through elected functionaries.

The COL Learning Experience award was given to IGNOU student Irene Paulsen from the Solomon Islands who is pursuing a PG diploma in Distance Education. This diploma is offered by IGNOU to students under the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation scheme.

The IGNOU and the National Open School were also conferred the COL's anniversary honours in recognition of their institutional achievements. The fourth award was given to Prof G. Ram Reddy and Dr V.C. Kulandaiswamy, both former IGNOU vice-chancellors. They were both conferred the title of Honorary Fellows of COL for their contribution to distance education.

The university will be holding its 10th convocation meet on March 14 in which 33,000 students will receive degrees, diplomas and certificates. The convocation will be held simultaneously through teleconferencing via satellite at Hyderabad, Guwahati, Patna, Ahmedabad, Karnal, Simla, Jammu, Bangalore, Cochin, Bhopal, Pune, Shillong, Bhubaneshwar, Jaipur, Chennai, Lucknow and Calcutta.