West Bengal is set to have a panel of inspectors to monitor universities in the state. Billed as education inspectorate, the body to be constituted by the higher education department of the state will have power to grant the universities on the basis of merit.
State higher education minister Sudarsan Roy Chowdhury while clarifying on the nature of the body scheduled to be functional from this fiscal, assured the educational institutions that their autonomy will not be undermined by the proposed body.
The universities, in fact, will have their own inspection bodies the functioning of which will not be interfered with.
According to Roy chowdhury, professors, academicians and students will constitute the inspectors body and the officials of the higher education department officials will have no stake in it.
The state higher education minister regretted that the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) did not consult the state government before summarily endorsing affiliation of colleges. He said he will confer with Union HRD minister Kapil Sibal soon.