The lndira Gandhi National Open University has recently launched the Bachelor's Degree Programme in Science as apilot project. The authors have estimated student workload for physics electives on offer at the first level and provided a possoble framework for future action in this area. They are of the view that in the thinkingof the programme designers, goals of distance education have not sufficiently replaced the norms and requirement of the conventional system. This hascreated an imbalance which may be detrimental to distance education students. They advocate a more realistic application of the norms of distance education to the courses designed for B.Sc. students. Here it needs to be noted that academic conservatism shall not favour reduction of academic inputs in distance education courses in comparison with those in the corresponding conventional courses. For the sake of credibility. the practitioners of distance education would not like to favour such reduction either Isn't it reasonable, therefore, to fix a realistic period of time, longer than the present three years, as the minimum duration to complete the BDP programme?