Wednesday, April 23, 2014

SC gives back AICTE power to approve tech colleges

1)SC gives back AICTE power to approve tech colleges

Link: 


2)Apex court lets AICTE to approve technical institutes

Link: 


Apex court lets AICTE to approve technical institutes
Arun P Mathew,TNN | Apr 20, 2014, 03.34 AM IST
COIMBATORE: The Supreme Court has given an interim order that the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) will be in charge of the approval process of technical institutions for the coming academic year as well. An interim order issued on Thursday by the court says the AICTE can proceed in accordance with its Approval Process Handbook.

"Approval Process Handbook (2013-14) is presently in force and the same has been extended and made applicable for the Academic Year 2014-15 as well. AICTE shall now proceed in accordance with the Approval Process Handbook for the Academic Year 2014-15. Necessary orders shall be issued by AICTE within 10 days," said the order issued by the bench of justices L M Lodha and Kurien.

AICTE officials said they were studying the order and added that they would continue with their policies. "If we are given back approval powers we will not keep any restrictions with regard to starting technical institutions," said S S Mantha, chairman of AICTE. The liberal allocation of technical institutions was one of the policies that has been heavily criticised. Mantha's words indicate a continuity of the policies if AICTE gets back the powers.

Former Anna University vice chancellor E Balagurusamy said the order was a heartening development and added that AICTE was doing a commendable job and expected the agency would get complete powers over technical and management institutions as before.



SC gives back AICTE power to approve tech colleges
Ashok Pradhan,TNN | Apr 21, 2014, 02.18 PM IST

BHUBANESWAR: Changing its decision of April 25 last year, the Supreme Court has allowed All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) to have regulatory control over technical educational institutions in the country for the 2014-15 academic year. The latest interim order came on a petition of the Odisha Technical Colleges' Association (OTCA) on April 17, OTCA president Biswajit Mohanty said here on Sunday.
The SC last year had said colleges affiliated to any university do not come under AICTE purview, thereby shrinking AICTE role in regulating technical institutions. After the April 25 SC order, the University Grants Commission (UGC) had decided to take over control on technical education in the country and had framed guidelines for universities.

Allowing AICTE to have regulatory control over all such technical institutions again, a bench of Justice R M Lodha and Justice Kurian Joseph said on April 17, "AICTE shall now proceed in accordance with the approval process handbook for the 2014-15 academic year in so far as members of the petitioner association and all colleges and institutions situated similarly to the members of the petitioners' association."

The apex court also asked AICTE to issue necessary orders in this regard within 10 days, copy of the court order reveals.

Welcoming the latest court verdict, the OTCA president said AICTE control over technical institutions is necessary to ensure quality in technical education.

"UGC being an agency to offer grants, it had no technical expertise to ensure norms in technical institutions. That is why UGC delegated such a role to universities, which will dilute the quality of technical institutions in the country," Mohanty told TOI.

OTCA, which has 62 member colleges in the state, had prayed to vest regulatory control on AICTE on the same logic.

The colleges were particularly apprehensive about their future without AICTE. In the UGC system, regulatory powers would have ultimately come to state universities, resulting in increased state government meddling in their affairs. The Odisha government, for example, had asked UGC to ensure that only Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT) be allowed to affiliate any technical institution in Odisha.
The government had also requested UGC to ensure that no objection certificate from the state government would be made necessary before opening a new technical college, change of location, closure of a college and conversion of women's technical college into co-ed college etc.

No comments:

Post a Comment