The Yashpal Committee, headed by scientist Yashpal has suggested a number of recommendations including the removal of the University Grants Commission (UGC), All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), National Council for Teacher Education (NCERT) and Distance Education Council. The committee report also says that IITs and IIMs should also be turned into full-fledged universities. A national test on the line of Graduate Record Exam (GRE) should be introduced for higher education in the country. This would be open to all aspirants and would be held more than once a year. Instead of all regulatory bodies a seven member Commission for Higher Education and Research (CHER) under an Act of Parliament should be set up to govern the higher education in the country. The proposed CHER will have a Chairperson and members will be selected by a committee headed by the PM, Leader of Opposition and the Chief Justice of India.
Commission will have five divisions dealing with future directions, accreditation management, funding and development and new institutions. An eminent individual will head each division for five years. Yashpal committee was formed in a view to suggest measures for 'renovation and rejuvenation' of higher education in India. The committee expressed grief over the growth of deemed universities and suggested a complete ban on further grant of such status. Three years time period would be given to existing ones to develop as a full-fledged university and fulfill the prescribed norms of accreditation. Recommending curricular reform, the committee said teachers should have the freedom to design courses and students should be able to study subjects outside their courses.
