The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), which regulates engineering and management studies in India, has been technically defunct for over a year, as the Centre has been dragging its feet on the reconstitution of its apex council.

In the absence of the appointed members, AICTE officials are making decisions on regular issues, drawing criticism from academics.

According to the AICTE Act, the council should meet at least once a year. The last meeting of the council was held in July 2024.

According to the AICTE Act, its council consists of 51 members. The members appointed by the government are the chairman and vice-chairman, six members from different government ministries and departments, two MPs, eight members representing the states, four members from the industry, seven members representing different educational councils and organisations, four members representing professional bodies, and up to two members to represent any other related sectors. Others are ex officio members.

According to the Act, the council is supposed to lay down norms and standards for courses, curricula, physical and instructional facilities, staff qualification, quality instructions and assessment and examinations. It is also responsible for fixing norms and guidelines on tuition and other fees, granting approval to new technical institutions and the introduction of new courses or programmes.

The council has a three-year term. The ministry of education (MoE) had reconstituted the council on October 25, 2021. The term of the council expired on October 24, 2024.

AICTE sources said that an executive committee, which was set up by the council to advise on technical education issues, has also completed its term more than a year ago.

Currently, there is no regular chairperson in the AICTE. Prof. Yogesh Singh, the vice-chancellor of Delhi University, is holding the additional charge of the AICTE chairman.

Prof. Onkar Singh, former vice-chancellor of Uttarakhand Technical University, said the AICTE council has experts from different fields and that the AICTE should not take any decision without its approval. He said the AICTE regulates nearly 8,000 institutions offering courses in engineering and management. Without the council, the AICTE is being led by a few officials who cannot do justice to the job, Singh said.

“The AICTE is taking regular decisions, many of them related to policy issues, without approval from the council. If the council is practically defunct or does not deliberate on key policy issues, no decision should be taken by the AICTE on such issues,” Singh added.

He said the technical education sector was going through a difficult phase. Nearly 30-40 per cent of the seats are vacant in colleges.

“The delay in reconstitution of the council only harms technical education,” he said.

The MoE sources said that AICTE spends around ₹490 crore a year on various schemes. It also disburses funds under the MoE-sponsored schemes. The cash-rich regulatory body has representation from the education ministry, too. The MoE and the AICTE have been communicating for the last one year, but that has not translated into action.

The Telegraph has sent an email to higher education secretary Vineet Joshi seeking his comment on the delay in reconstituting the council. A separate email was sent to the AICTE’s acting chairman seeking his comments on the policy decisions being taken without the council’s approval. Their responses are awaited.