Modi government to replace UGC with Higher Education Commission of India

University Grants Commission of India is a statutory body set up by the Indian government under the UGC Act 1956. UGC comes under the Ministry of Human Resources Development and is charged with the duties of coordination, determination and maintenance of standards of higher education. UGC functions through six regional centres around India while it has its headquarters in New Delhi. Apart from providing recognition to all the universities of India, UGC also provides grants to them. Modelled after the UGC of UK which ceased to exist in 1989, there is a dire need for complete overhaul of its machinery in India. The Narendra Modi led BJP government has finally decided to go ahead with this task and has announced a complete overhaul of the apex higher education regulator –UGC alongwith the repeal of the UGC Act, 1956. The announcement also mentions a fresh legislation to facilitate the setting up of the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI). 

The announcement was made by Minister of Human Resources Development, Prakash Javadekar who took to Twitter. The tweet reads, “Under the leadership of PM @narendramodi has embarked on a process of reforms of the regulatory agencies for better administration of the HE sector. In a landmark decision, a draft Act for repeal of #UGC & setting up #HECI (Higher Education Commission of India) has been prepared”.

According to reports from sources at the MHRD the draft is uploaded on the site, educationists, stakeholders and others are invited by the MHRD to provide feedback on the draft proposal latest by 7^th July. Prakash Javadekar further tweeted, “The transformation of the regulatory set up is based upon the principles – Minimum government & Maximum governance, Separation of grant functions, End of inspection raj, Focus on academic quality, Powers to enforce.” 

HECI will likely have 12 other members apart from the chairperson and vice-chairperson which will be appointed by the central government. The members would include secretaries of higher education, ministry of skill development and entrepreneurship, chairpersons of AICTE and NCTE amongst others.

MHRD has decided to revamp UGC and its parent legislation completely so that the commissions can focus on setting up academic standards and ensure their implementation across universities in India rather than wasting their time on allocation of grants. The HECI will also receive the power to order closure of institutes that violate norms and will also have the authority to impose fines and punishment whenever necessary. Both All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) will be revised to fall in sync with the newly formed HECI.

It is a much needed move coming from the MHRD, it should be welcomed and appreciated. Although people were expecting a lot more from the BJP government, it is a good start and it will lead to many more in the future. Prakash Javadekar has initiated a good move in order to revamp the education system in the country and make the process of achieving higher education smoother and stress free for the students. It will also make the job of getting accreditation and validation much easier for the academic institutions which provide higher education. Many reforms are needed in the education sector, this move to set up HECI is the first step in a sector which needs large scale reforms. A good start by HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar.