Union human resource development (HRD) minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank on Thursday made it clear that no final decision has been taken yet on merging the UGC and the AICTE.
In reply to a written question raised in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday regarding the proposed merger of the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE), Nishank said, “Till now no final decision has been taken on this issue.”
In 2018, the human resource development ministry announced that the UGC would be replaced with an amendment to the UGC Act, 1951.
In this regard, a draft bill was also put in public domain seeking feedback.
Later, the ministry also decided that the Higher Education Commission of India would take over the AICTE.
The union HRD had announced in September this year that the bill was in final stage and it would be placed in the Union Cabinet in October.
Union minister Nishank had tweeted: “The Higher Education Commission of India will be a single regulator and replace UGC and AICTE. The bill has been prepared after elaborate consultation with states. It will be taken to the Cabinet in October.”
The draft bill proposes the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) to control academic matters while an advisory board under the union HRD minister would be in charge of issuing monetary grants to universities.
But various student groups had opposed the handing over of the financial control to the HRD ministry.
The UGC came into existence on December 28, 1953 and became a statutory organization of the government of India by an Act of Parliament in 1956.
It was set up for coordination, determination and maintenance of standards of teaching, examination and research in university education.
The AICTE acts as a regulator for engineering, pharmacy, management and other technical education colleges.