The Centre has proposed to replace the University Grants Commission with a “Higher Education Commission of India” in what it calls an effort to “end the inspection raj”. Under the planned structure, unlike the UGC, the new commission will focus only on academic matters, while the ministry will issue grants.

The Ministry of Human Resource Development released a draft legislation to repeal the UGC Act, 1956, on Wednesday, and has sought public opinion and suggestions till July 7. The draft law is called the Higher Education Commission of India (Repeal of University Grants Commission Act) Act, 2018.

The ministry said the draft law intends to reform the regulatory systems for more autonomy and to “facilitate holistic growth of the education system” to provide better opportunities to students more affordably.

The new set-up aims to cut the scope of regulation so that there is “no more interference in the management issues of the educational institutions”, the government said. The regulation will be done through transparent public disclosures and “merit-based decision making” on matters of higher education standards and quality, said the government.

Under the leadership of PM @narendramodi has embarked on a process of reforms of the regulatory agencies for better administration of the HE sector. In a landmark decision, a draft Act for repeal of #UGC & setting up #HECI (Higher Education Commission of India) has been prepared. — Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) June 27, 2018

The transformation of the regulatory set up is based upon the principles -

Minimum government & Maximum governance, Separation of grant functions, End of inspection raj, Focus on academic quality, Powers to enforce. #SaafNiyatSahiVikas #48MonthsofTransformingIndia @ugc_india — Prakash Javadekar (@PrakashJavdekar) June 27, 2018