New Delhi, Feb. 8: The human resource development ministry has downgraded to an advisory role a panel it set up to review higher education, allowing the government an opportunity to dismiss unpalatable recommendations.

The ministry has renamed the review committee, headed by former University Grants Commission chairman Yash Pal, to specifically clarify that the panel’s findings would not be binding on the government.

The UGC/AICTE Review Committee will now be called the Committee to Advise on Renovation and Rejuvenation of Higher Education, The Telegraph has learnt.

The UGC and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) monitor all higher educational institutions other than those that teach medicine.

The move comes amid increasing indications that the Yash Pal committee’s report will largely be critical of the government’s current role in higher education.

The panel is likely to ask the government to revamp its higher education regulatory structure and keep the ministry away from interfering with the autonomy of academic institutions.

The terms of reference of the committee remain “broadly” the same as when it was constituted in February 2008, but the panel’s role has been redefined through the change in name, an official said.

“The Yash Pal committee has to do the same work as it had to when it was constituted. But the change in name makes it clear that the panel’s recommendations will be taken only as advice — to be taken or rejected,” the official said.

“It allows us to reject recommendations without stirring a controversy,” the official added.

The panel is expected to submit an interim report later this month while it finalises its submissions to the government.

The Yash Pal committee plans to ask the ministry to stay away from appointments of university vice-chancellors. A search-cum-selection committee shortlists eligible candidates for the post of VC of a university but the ministry picks its favourite from the shortlist and nominates this candidate for the President’s approval.

The Yash Pal panel is also likely to criticise the current regulatory mechanism in higher education.