These guidelines were developed by the Distance Education Council (India) to provide institutions with action guidelines for development and delivery of distance education programs; to provide a framework for the maintenance of standards and quality assurance; and to provide benchmarks for self assessment. The guidelines highlight three essential paradigms of distance education: learner centeredness, comprehensiveness of learning experiences, and interactivity. Sections of the report cover the following areas: distance education as a new paradigm; planning academic programs; teaching-learning design and curriculum design; program development strategy; self-instructional materials; maintenance and continuous reform; using electronic media and new communication technologies; production and copying of materials; student support services; timely delivery of services; student evaluation; institutional requirements; networking and sharing resources; monitoring and performance review; quality assurance; human resource development; and benchmarks for self-assessment. Appended is a glossary and a list of open universities and correspondence course institutions throughout India. (SM)