JOIN USSeveral of them believe that corruption of apex bodies in higher education has become institutionalised and requires more than the weeding out of a few individuals.
Founder of the PES group of institutions and Member of the Legislative Council, Professor M R Doreswamy said, “Corruption of AICTE officials is a shared experience of all technical and management institutions, but the evil of corruption starts at highest places. The University Grants Commission (UGC) itself is a den of corruption.”
He called for action against all apex bodies which include regulatory authorities such as the UGC, Medical Council of India and Dental Council of India.
Tales of corruption
But some others called for the reorganisation of the AICTE and a redefinition of its roles as a regulator. Dr K Rajanikanth, principal of M S Ramaiah Institute of Technology (MSRIT) said that he had heard horror stories of corruption from other managements, but his institution never had problems with the AICTE.
“What higher education needs is independent bodies with the freedom to focus on quality and not mundane details like the number of seats. The heads of AICTE and other apex bodies must not be appointments but constitutional positions like the Chief Election Commissioner,” he said. The AICTE should be restructured according to the recommendations of the Yashpal Committee Report with its clear focus being quality of higher education, he added.
Doreswamy added that changing the top does not really make a difference as the legacy is often left behind. “A central apex institution like AICTE will have no dearth of intellectuals and academicians to occupy all the key posts, but there has to be a vision and will,” he said.