By IANS
New Delhi : Minister of State for Planning M.V. Rajasekharan Wednesday told parliament that the government is mulling scrapping the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), the apex advisory body for promotion and development of technical education.
In a written reply in the Rajya sabha, Rajasekharan said the government was examining the recommendations of the National Knowledge Commission (NKC), headed by noted technocrat Sam Pitroda, for abolition of the statutory panel under the ministry of human resource development.
The NKC has favoured the creation of a single Independent Regulatory Authority for Higher Education (IRAHE) for regulating higher education in the country, currently done by the AICTE, the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the Medical Council of India (MCI).
“The role of UGC will be limited to disbursing public funds. All other regulatory agencies such as the AICTE will need to be abolished,” the NKC has suggested.
The minister’s reply was in response to the questions from Ingrid Mcleod and Botcha Jhanshi Lakshmi, regarding recommendations of the NKC and their implementation.
The AICTE was set up in November 1945 as a national level apex advisory body to conduct survey on the facilities on technical education and to promote development in the country in a coordinated and integrated manner.