Government Wants IITs to Accredit Engineering Colleges Across India

New Delhi: In a bid to reduce the burden on the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), the Ministry of Human Resources Development (HRD) has proposed to make the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) governing council a parallel agency for accreditation of engineering colleges.

During 2016-17, NAAC assessed 1,641 educational institutions including universities, colleges and other vocational institutes. This was a big jump from the 1,300 institutes it assessed in 2015-16.

Sources at the ministry said the proposal was still in its nascent stage. “IITs are an independent body and the ministry can only make a proposal. The final decision will be in the hands of the governing council, post which the University Grants Commission will draft the scheme”.

NAAC welcomed the ministry’s move and said it would only strengthen higher education. “We cover a lot of educational institutions. Giving IITs an authority over accreditation will definitely lower the pressure on us. I hope IITs are given responsibility in educational institutes that have technical and engineering courses, which is the area of expertise for them” said director DP Singh.