Education regulator to replace UGC, AICTE

The University Grants Commission (UGC) and the All India Council for Technical Education are soon going to be a thing of the past with the government planning to replace them with a single higher education regulator.

The proposed Higher Education Empowerment Regulation Agency (Heera) is aimed at eliminating overlaps in the jurisdiction and removing irrelevant regulatory provisions.

The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) is working with Niti Aayog on the plan of bringing technical as well as non-technical institutions under one umbrella.

According to sources, a detailed blueprint of the proposed regulator and its legislation is being worked upon. “Both Niti Aayog and MHRD officials are working on the plan. It was felt that multiple regulatory bodies led to excessive and restrictive regulation and hence, contributed to the lack of institutional autonomy,” a source said.

The plan to have a single higher education regulator is not new. It has been recommended by various committees set up by the government.