Institutes of National Importance (INIs), including IITs, IIMs, NITs and IISERs, are likely to be brought within the ambit of the proposed single higher education regulator, Higher Education Commission of India, The Indian Express has learned.
Currently central universities (CUs) and INIs are governed by their own Acts of Parliament and are not answerable to the University Grants Commission or the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). While the central universities are still dependent on UGC for release of their budgetary grants, the IITs, IIMs and NITs deal with the ministry directly on financial matters.
According to sources, the Education Ministry, while deliberating on different provisions and powers of the proposed HECI, also considered bringing INIs and BUs within its ambit. The move, if implemented by the government, is likely to cause heartburn especially among the IIMs which have been very protective of their autonomy, especially since the passage of the IIM Act.
An IIM director who spoke on the condition of autonomy told The Indian Express that the possibility of bringing all technical education institutions within HECI’s control was broached during a presentation made by the then AICTE chairman Anil Sahasrabudhe in December 2021. However, in the first few months of 2022, a few IIM directors collectively wrote a letter to the ministry opposing the idea.
There are currently 160 INIs including AIIMS, IITs, NITs and IIMs which are empowered to hold their own examinations, grant degrees and receive government funding and are governed by their own senates/board of governors but with some involvement from the government as well.
The proposed HECI structure includes four different verticals like National Higher Education Regulatory Council (NHERC) for function of regulation, National Accreditation Council (NAC) for accreditation, Higher Education Grants Council (HEGC) for funding and General Education Council (GEC) for setting academic standards.