The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) has said that the entire process of accreditation and assessment of educational institutions is done in a transparent and professional manner. “The system cannot be comprised because the whole process is decentralized, transparent, and accessible to stakeholders..,” the council said in its official notice.
This comes after chairperson Bhushan Patwardhan resigned on Sunday, March 5 alleging that a few universities were obtaining “questionable grades” from University Grants Commission (UGC) through unfair means. NAAC has said that the processes within the council are “continuously being improved.”
On February 26, Patwardhan first raised questions over accreditation procedures and expressed a desire to resign. In his letter to UGC chairman M Jagadesh Kumar, Patwardhan suggested that vested interests were manipulating the laid down rules governing the accreditation methods. NAAC is an autonomous body under the commission that evaluates and certifies higher educational institutions (HEIs) with grades as part of accreditation.
In his resignation letter to Kumar yesterday, Patwardhan stated that he had “nothing personal in this matter” and was trying to “safeguard the sanctity” of the post to which he was appointed in February last year. “After careful reconsideration of the entire subject, I hereby resign from the position of Chairman of the Executive Committee, NAAC, Bengaluru in the larger interest of the UGC, NAAC, and Indian higher education system with immediate effect i.e. on Monday, March 6, 2023 forenoon,” Patwardhan wrote in his resignation letter.
Following this Kumar appointed former All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) chairperson Anil Sahasrabudhe as NAAC chairperson on March 3.
Earlier, Patwardhan had opposed the move to appoint Sahasrabudhe in his position, asserting that it was done without informing him. Then on March 4, he had written a letter separately to UGC Chairman, saying that the commission had misinterpreted his intent to resign on February 26 as a letter of resignation.
In his earlier letter, he made an appeal to the Ministry of Education (MoE), to institute a thorough independent inquiry in this regard. Patwardhan also demanded to book those who are responsible for this serious lapse on their part, in the interest of justice to protect his individual rights, dignity, and sanctity of UGC, NAAC, and Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) in the country.
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