THE PROPOSED Higher Education Commission of India (HECI), which will subsume the University Grants Commission (UGC) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), is likely to have extensive penal powers, with the government considering to authorise it to impose fine of up to Rs 5 crore and also proceed against the heads of institutions found to have committed violations.
Currently, the UGC, which is the apex regulatory body on higher education (non-technical), can impose a maximum fine of Rs 1,000 for violations, including setting up of fake universities, under an Act which was drawn up in 1956, prompting demands for heftier penalties from time to time.
The proposed steep penalties are likely to be spelt out in the HECI Bill, which is being drafted by the Ministry of Education for tabling during the Winter Session of Parliament. It is also learnt that the Centre is likely to stipulate the presence of at least one state university vice-chancellor and two professors from the state higher education councils in the proposed 15-member body.
The move to mandate representation from the states in the commission marks a departure from the government’s previous attempt to establish the commission in 2018, when it had faced resistance from some states and a section of the academia who saw centralising tendencies in the exercise.The move to mandate representation from the states in the commission marks a departure from the government’s previous attempt to establish the commission in 2018, when it had faced resistance from some states and a section of the academia who saw centralising tendencies in the exercise.The move to mandate representation from the states in the commission marks a departure from the government’s previous attempt to establish the commission in 2018, when it had faced resistance from some states and a section of the academia who saw centralising tendencies in the exercise.
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