No role for UGC and AICTE in selection of IIT chief?

The roles of University Grant Commission (UGC) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) are likely to be clipped even further. As a result the apex bodies may no longer have any power in the selection of directors for the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).

According to unconfirmed news sources, both the IITs and the ministry of human resource development (MHRD) decided not to involve UGC and AICTE in selecting IIT director. The aim is being seen as a move to reduce the influence of the two bodies in education sector.

Earlier this year in April, the Supreme Court declared AICTE as an ‘advisory and recommendatory body’ and private colleges running University-approved MBA programmes need not take its approval.

Questions about how UGC and AICTE chairmen can be a part of search-cum-selection committee since they are at the same level as that of IIT director is being raised. The position of an IIT director is on par with secretary in the Union government and should hence be selected by higher authorities.

Despite several attempts, Shiksha.com couldn’t connect with AICTE chairman SS Mantha for comments.

A decision on this matter is expected to be taken in an  IIT council meeting on September 3. The Council is also expected to discuss the changes in Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) and poor performance of Indian institutes in academic rankings of world’s top institutes.

“The reality may be IITs are best of the best but somewhere they are falling short. They need to engage themselves with international ranking agencies to see how this can be improved,” said a government official as reported by a business daily.