Centre plans to bring IITs, Other INIs under proposed higher education regulator

The education ministry is considering bringing Institutes of National Importance (INIs), including IITs, IIMs, NITs and IISERs, under the ambit of the proposed single higher education regulator, the Higher Education Council of India (HECI), ET has gathered.

IITs, IIMs, NITs and IISERS have so far been kept out of any external regulatory structure such as the University Grants Commission or All India Council for Technical Education. The INI status is conferred by the Centre to autonomous institutes of excellence through an Act of Parliament.

ET has gathered that the Centre is considering the idea of bringing INIs under the new regulatory regime and consultations are underway for it. Officials maintained that the INIs’ funding pattern and autonomy would not be affected by the move.

“They will continue to be governed by their own Acts as is the case currently is. While the HECI Act will subsume other regulatory Acts, it will not impinge on the INI Acts. The idea is just that some basic standards and benchmarks are followed across institutes as enunciated in the new National Education Policy. For instance, accreditation is not done yet at most INIs, including IITs. However, the matrix for assessment cannot be the same for IITs and a skill university. The issue is still being debated,” said a person with knowledge of consultations.

Another person privy to consultations said legal and legislative issues are being deliberated upon to ensure a HECI-backed system can be worked out without adversely impacting INIs.

There are currently over 160 INIs including AIIMS, Schools of Planning & Architecture, Indian Institutes of Information Technology, Rashtriya Raksha Vidyalaya among others. They are empowered to hold their examinations, grant degrees and receive government funding. They are governed largely by their own senates/board of governors but with some government role as well. For instance, in the IITs and NITs, the apex decision-making body on major policy shifts is the IIT Council/NIT council, respectively, which has all institute directors on board but is chaired by the education minister.

A former IIT professor said move to bring INIs into HECI-like regulatory structure would spell ‘disaster’.”Institutes of National Importance have set academic benchmarks and standards in the country and across the world. So, how can one ask them to adhere to some sort of uniform standard? It is best to let them function as they have so far. Even if the current effort is to just bring in the overarching regulatory regime for them, their autonomy will eventually erode as new room for regulatory overreach will be created,” the professor told ET.

A senior official associated with deliberations on HECI bill during 2014-2019 told ET that the INI issue was never on the plate. “It could spell death knell for the autonomy that the likes of IITs enjoy and thrive in. The IIT, NIT, IISER ecosystem allows these institutes to nurture academic excellence and original thought process. Changing this without any good reason is unnecessary and will backfire,” the official said.