AICTE approval must for deemed universities offering technical courses

The apex court's direction came as it was felt that deemed universities used to take their own decision on matters like increasing seats or starting a new course as there was no regulating authority.

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE)'s approval has been made compulsory for deemed universities offering technical and engineering courses.

Deemed universities earlier used to report to the University Grants Commission (UGC).

A recent Supreme Court direction says that deemed universities should abide by AICTE norms for technical and engineering education.

The apex court's direction came as it was felt that deemed universities used to take their own decision on matters like increasing seats or starting a new course as there was no regulating authority.

A New Indian Express Report quoted AICTE chairman Dr. Anil Sahasrabudhe as saying that "UGC has issued fresh guidelines mandating AICTE approval from now on."

Earlier, the Supreme Court held that the engineering degrees obtained through correspondence courses from deemed universities in the past 16 years were invalid.

A bench of Justices A K Goel and U U Lalit noted that the UGC and the AICTE did not approve distance learning programmes in engineering studies and the approval granted by the Distance Education Council (DEC) for such courses was illegal.

OneIndia News