A Parliamentary panel has said the current system for accreditation and re-accreditation of Higher Education Institutions is long, bureaucratic and cumbersome, calling for urgent reforms at the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) and stating that its credibility must be restored with urgency.

In its report, the Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports, chaired by Congress MP Digvijaya Singh, also noted a leadership vacuum at the University Grants Commission (UGC) and recommended that a new chairperson be appointed without delay.

The committee said the five-year accreditation cycle and annual reports require considerable administrative time and that mandatory site visits add to procedural burdens. It recommended streamlining NAAC procedures to reduce delays and remove unnecessary steps.

The panel added that NAAC’s existing grading framework is extraneous and suggested a binary accreditation model to simplify assessments and reduce discretionary elements in grading.

Citing an ongoing investigation into a bribery case involving NAAC, the committee called for a thorough internal inquiry and asked that the findings be shared with it. It acknowledged recent revisions in grades for about 200 institutions and the removal of roughly 900 peer assessors, but said restoring NAAC’s credibility remains urgent.

The panel noted that the UGC chairperson’s post has been vacant since April 2025 and reminded the government that the National Education Policy requires leadership transitions to include an overlap period. It recommended the immediate appointment of a new chairperson.

The committee also raised concerns about funding shortages, low fellowship levels, infrastructure gaps and prolonged vacancies at the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR), Indian Council of Philosophical Research (ICPR) and Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR). It warned that current funding levels do not align with these bodies’ functions.

For the ICHR, the panel said the current budget is inadequate and reiterated the need for an increase. It noted that the junior research fellowship is limited to 80 students nationally and that the stipend of Rs 17,600 is significantly below the UGC’s Junior Research Fellowship rate of Rs 37,000. It recommended increasing both the fellowship amount and the number of beneficiaries.

Inputs from PTI

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