UGC and AICTE Not being Replaced with Single Regulatory Body

The Government will not be merging the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) into a single higher education regulator, informed the Rajya Sabha.

The Minister of State for Human Resource Department Mahendra Nath Pandey said "No such proposal is under consideration at present, to merge the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) into a single higher education regulator."

But earlier the HRD Ministry official shad claimed that the government was thinking over the incorporation of the Higher Education Empowerment Regulation Agency (HEERA). This introduction of HEERA would then be replacing the already existing UGC and AICTE, with the focus on removing the overlaps in the jurisdiction and take out the unnecessary regulatory provisions.

The HRD Minister said that such an idea wasn't new. The proposal of starting a single regulator which would replace UGC and AICTE for the higher education is not a new thought and several committees have earlier thought about such a step.

Pandey also said, "UGC Review Committee in 2014 had also recommended that the commission should be replaced by an apex institution titled National Higher Education Authority."

The National Knowledge Commission (2006) had recommended the independent regulatory authority for the higher education. The Committee on Renovation and Rejuvenation of Higher Education (2009) had advocated a higher regulatory body by bringing together many regulatory bodies in the area of higher education.