Government to Introduce New Higher Education Regulator for IITs, IIMs, NITs, and IISERs

Proposed Higher Education Commission of India to Oversee Prestigious Institutions including IITs, IIMs, NITs, and IISERs”

According to sources from The Indian Express, it appears that the prestigious universities like IITs, IIMs, NITs, and IISERs will fall under the realm of the proposed single higher education regulator, the Higher Education Commission of India.

Now, neither the University Grants Commission nor the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) are in charge of INIs or central universities (CUs), which are governed by their own acts of parliament. The IITs, IIMs, and NITs deal with the ministry directly for financial problems, whereas CUs continue to depend on the UGC for the release of their budgetary funding.

Sources suggest that while discussing various provisions and powers of the proposed HECI, the Education Ministry considered including INIs and BUs under its ambit. This could potentially cause some friction, particularly among the IIMs who have been protective of their autonomy since the passage of the IIM Act.

One IIM director, speaking on the condition of anonymity, informed The Indian Express that the notion of bringing all technical education institutions under HECI’s control was initially discussed during a presentation by the former AICTE chairman Anil Sahasrabudhe in December 2021. However, a small group of IIM directors sent a letter to the ministry opposing the idea in the early months of 2022.

Currently, there are 160 INIs empowered to hold their own examinations, grant degrees, and receive government funding. They are governed by their own senates/board of governors, with some involvement from the government.

The new National Education Policy (NEP), which was unveiled in July 2020, foresees the massive higher education reform known as the proposed HECI. The concept of a solitary regulator that would incorporate all other higher education regulators predates the NEP 2020, nevertheless. The “Higher Education Council of India (Repeal of University Grants Commission Act) Bill” was introduced by the NDA administration in January 2018; however, it was never finalised, and the NEP 2020 was unveiled two years later.

The National Higher Education Regulatory Council (NHERC), the National Accreditation Council (NAC), the Higher Education Grants Council (HEGC), and the General Education Council (GEC), that determines the academic standards, are the four separate verticals that make up the planned HECI organisation.