Bill cleared to set up single regulator
Higher education
A Bill seeking to set up an overarching body to oversee and regulate higher education in universities and technical institutions in the country has been approved by the Union Cabinet.
The Cabinet approval has come more than two years after President Pratibha Patil made an announcement to this effect in her address to Parliament.
The National Commission of Higher Education and Research (NCHER), as proposed to be set up under the Bill cleared by Cabinet on Tuesday evening, will subsume all existing higher education regulatory bodies including University Grants Commission (UGC) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), associated with the Human Resource Development Ministry.
Panel of experts
According to the proposed legislation, the NCHER will be an establishment with a substantial number of experts in various fields of higher education.
It will comprise 70 members, with representatives from every state and other higher education regulatory bodies, other than those including Medical Council of India regulating medical education in the country.
“The Bill is a step forward to promote autonomy of higher educational institutions,” an HRD Ministry official said. The establishment of the NCHER was conceptualised on the basis of a report submitted by the Yash Pal committee in 2009. It had recommended setting up of an overarching regulator that could give more freedom to universities and institutes of higher education.
The National Knowledge Commission too had made a recommendation in this regard.
Since its formulation by the HRD Ministry, however, the draft bill faced criticism from various quarters.
Many education experts and intellectuals claimed that the setting up of NCHER would undermine the autonomy of the existing bodies regulating higher education in India. They also felt that the Bill tended towards centralisation of powers and control over academic initiatives.
The Health Ministry also strongly objected to HRD Ministry’s move to bring medical education under the ambit of the proposed legislation.
However, the tussle between the HRD Ministry and the Health Ministry over the issue was later resolved. A National Commission for Human Resources for Health (NCHRH) Bill, 2011, was formulated to set up an overarching body to oversee and regulate medical education in the country.
The NCHRH Bill was cleared by the Union Cabinet last week.
