AICTE Act to Be Amended By the Government Soon

The government has finally mulled over the All Indian Council of Technical Education (AICTE) Act and has come to a decision to now amend it, in order to undo a Supreme Court ruling in which SC had stripped the AICTE council of its powers of sanctioning the technical courses offering institutes.

The amendment would be made to restore the powers of AICTE of regulating and approving technical and management institutions.

Until the government does not finally amend the AICTE Act, due to the present tenure of the Lok Sabha poll, an interim arrangement will be formed.

The AICTE under this arrangement would be able to set standards for technical institutes while UGC would provide the affiliation and the National Board of Accreditation will assess the institutes.

The law Ministry gave green signal to the amendments and the interim arrangements as informed by Higher education secretary, Ashok Thakur.

He added that the amendment would fundamentallyreturn the earlier powers that AICTE had. Thakur heads the committee that coordinates between AICTE and UGC over this matter. He told a UGC meet will held on January 10, 2014 in which broader guidelines would be finalized.