New Delhi, Jan. 30: India will soon have a single accreditation authority for all streams of higher education.

This will replace the current system under which each stream rates its own institutes, leading to allegations of nepotism and corruption.

The National Accreditation and Assessment Council (NAAC), which now only keeps a check on the quality of universities and colleges, will be given the power to assess institutes teaching medicine, engineering, management and law.

The human resource development ministry is finalising amendments to the NAAC act. A draft NAAC (Amendment) Bill, 2008, has been prepared by the UGC and is currently being studied by the technical education wing of the HRD ministry.

The amendments also aim to increase the independence of the NAAC, senior government officials have said. Although an autonomous body, the council works under the supervision of the UGC.

The quality of technical institutes — that teach engineering, management and most other professional courses — is currently monitored by the National Board of Accreditation (NBA).

The NBA, however, comes under the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), which approves the establishment of technical institutes.

“There is a conflict-of-interest scenario. Once the AICTE allows an institute to come up, it is not in its interest to declare it of poor quality. That is why we need a quality regulator that is not answerable to any particular sector,” an official said.

Medical and law colleges are approved by the Medical Council of India (MCI) and the Bar Council of India (BCI), respectively. Neither has boards equivalent to the NBA.

Government officials clarified that the accreditation board, the medical council and the bar council can continue to function even after the NAAC’s powers are extended.

“But the larger goal is to phase out sectoral accreditation boards like the NBA, which are prone to allegations of nepotism and corruption,” the official said.

An internal inquiry of the HRD ministry in 2007 had revealed rampant corruption in the AICTE’s process of granting approval to new institutes.

The move to streamline quality checks in higher education comes a year after the National Knowledge Commission had made the proposal. The commission, headed by Sam Pitroda, had recommended that the government set up an Independent Regulatory Authority for Higher Education (IRAHE).

HRD officials clarified that the NAAC, even with its new powers, was “not equivalent to the IRAHE”.

“The idea of the IRAHE still needs more debate. The amended NAAC act will give the body the power to check the quality of all institutes. But the sectoral agencies — the UGC, AICTE, MCI and the BCI — will still hold the power to approve a new college, university or institute,” an official said.