New Delhi: An April Supreme Court (SC) ruling has effectively rendered irrelevant the once-powerful regulatory body All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE). On 25 April, the apex court ruled that the Council does not have the authority to control or regulate professional colleges that are affiliated to universities. It means that a technical college with university affiliation does not need to seek AICTE approval.
In the absence of AICTE, no new colleges will be granted recognition and a few existing ones are at a loss over accreditation, intakes, other issues, as the regulator used to control every aspect of India’s technical education schools, including engineering colleges and business schools.
Many in the education circles now expect that the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) to either set up a new a regulatory body or pass an ordinance to restore AICTE’s powers.
