UGC, AICTE to be replaced by new body. Know about PM Narendra Modi's `HEERA`

The proposed Higher Education Empowerment Regulation Agency (HEERA) is aimed at eliminating overlaps in jurisdiction and remove irrelevant regulatory provisions.

New Delhi: The University Grants Commission (UGC) and All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) are soon going to be history as the Narendra Modi government is mulling replacing them with a single higher education regulator.

The proposed Higher Education Empowerment Regulation Agency (HEERA) is aimed at eliminating overlaps in jurisdiction and remove irrelevant regulatory provisions.

The Ministry of Human Resource Development in tandem with Niti Aayog is working on the plan of bringing technical as well as non-technical institutions under the same umbrella.

A meeting on education chaired by the Prime Minister in March paved the way for the decision to bring this radical change, reported The Economic Times.

According to sources, a detailed blueprint of the proposed regulator and its legislation is being chalked out.

"Both Niti Aayog and the HRD Ministry officials are working on the plan. It was felt that multiple regulatory bodies led to excessive and restrictive regulation and hence contributed to lack of institutional autonomy," news agency PTI quoted a source as saying.

However, the plan to have a single higher education regulator is not a new one but has been recommended by various committees set up by the government.

(With Agency inputs)