After much chaos and confusion in the technical education sector in the country after the Supreme Court ruling which had stripped the Indian Council of Technical Education (AICTE) of its powers to approve institutes offering technical courses, the centre has decided to amend the AICTE Act to restore the earlier powers of the AICTE.
Affiliation of BE/BTech and other technical courses was left in limbo for 2014-15 following a Supreme Court verdict divesting the AICTE from governing these courses. As amending an Act is a long process which would need the approval of the Parliament, the centre has decided to make interim arrangements where AICTE would set standards for technical institutes and universities would provide the affiliation. The institutions will have to get themselves assessed by the National Board of Accreditation. In the upcoming meeting, committee to coordinate between AICTE and UGC on the issue, will also finalise the mode for regulating distance education courses offered by universities across the country. This is the result of the recent abolition of the Distance Education Council.
