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NAAC debars 7 inspection members arrested by CBI; new accreditation system soon
NAAC executive committee chairman Prof. Anil D Sahasrabudhe said that the current grading system, which has led to widespread attempts to secure higher ratings through unethical means, will be phased out
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NEW DELHI: The National Council of Assessment and Accreditation (NAAC) has debarred seven members of its inspection committee, who were arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) last week for bribery and favourable ratings, from further visits to colleges and universities for evaluation and the Council is probing their past one-year visits, NAAC executive committee chairman Prof. Anil D Sahasrabudhe said on Wednesday.
Calling the bribery incident “deeply unfortunate” and “shocking”, Sahasrabudhe also said that the physical inspection of higher education institutes by inspection committees for data verification will soon be replaced with digital methods in line with the recommendations of the Radhakrishnan Committee’s report submitted to the education ministry in January last year.
NAAC inspection committee chairman Samarendra Nath Saha (Ramchandra Chandravansi University vice-chancellor) and members Rajeev Sijariya (Jawaharlal Nehru University), Gayathri Devaraja (Davangere University) M Hanumanthappa (Bangalore University) and Guntur’s Koneru Lakshmaiah Education Foundation (KLEF) office bearers were among the 10 people arrested by the CBI for the alleged bribery.
“The NAAC inspection committee members involved in the incident have been debarred from further visits to colleges and universities. We are thoroughly investigating their past one-year inspections, including the institutions they evaluated and the grades they assigned. Since our expert selection process is fully automated, this raises serious concerns about a potential breach of the system. It is alarming that seven randomly selected members from different parts of the country could coordinate in this manner. The CBI will assist us in uncovering the full extent of the issue,” Sahasrabudhe told HT.
NAAC inspection process
Established in 1994, NAAC evaluates the quality of education and infrastructure in universities and colleges using a grading system based on a cumulative grade point average (CGPA) from 1.51 to 4.00 and grades them for five years on a scale from A++ to C, while a D signifies no accreditation.
CGPA is determined by various parameters including teaching-learning and evaluation and research; innovations and extension; infrastructure and learning resources. A high NAAC score grants institutions autonomy, flexibility in courses, online program approvals, and enhanced credibility
Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) with at least two graduating batches or six years of existence can apply for NAAC assessment. They submit a Self-Study Report (SSR) with quantitative and qualitative data, which is verified by third-party Data Validation and Verification (DVV) partners using an automated system. Additionally, HEIs must provide student data for the Student Satisfaction Survey (SSS), conducted by NAAC alongside the DVV process.
After satisfactory results in DVV and SSS, institutes are designated as ‘pre-qualified’ and have to send preferences of the dates for the inspection team visit along with details of the nearest airport and hotels within 15 days from the date of pre-qualification
Members are randomly selected from a pool of 5,000 experts using a computerized system. Two experts per discipline are shortlisted, with the NAAC director finalizing a team of 3 to 8 members (depending upon the size of the universities and colleges) including a chairman, a member-coordinator, and others as members. NAAC does not pre-disclose the details of the visiting inspection committees and takes care of their logistics, traveling allowance, and honorarium.
NAAC inspection committees, composed of academic experts from various universities, conduct physical assessments of institutes and send the assessment report to NAAC within 2 days of their visit to the institutes.
The grades of institutions are declared by taking into consideration of system-generated scores on all qualitative metrics after analysis by DVV partners, scores on the SSS, and scores given by the inspection team.
“The current grading system, which has led to widespread attempts to secure higher ratings through unethical means, will be phased out. Unfortunately, some institutional heads have been willing to engage in improper practices to influence inspection outcomes,” Sahasrabudhe said.
The CBI said KLEF officials requested a rating of 3.65 or above to ensure that KLEF receives A++ grade. The agency has recovered ₹37 lakh in cash, six Lenovo laptops, and one iPhone 16 pro mobile phone from the accused. JNU on Monday suspended Sijariya over his alleged involvement in the bribery case.
Sahasrabudhe said that NAAC will be implementing a new accreditation system based on the recommendations of the Radhakrishnan committee to address the concerns.
“Physical inspections will be replaced with online, video-recorded evaluations to eliminate such discrepancies. This will ensure full transparency, allowing us to review every interaction between institutions and accreditation experts. Accreditation will be binary—either an institution meets the required benchmarks, or it does not. Accreditation will signify that an institution has met the minimum standards for infrastructure and quality education,” he said.
Key recommendations of the panel led by former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief K. Radhakrishnan include reducing reliance on physical visits, adopting digital validation, implementing binary accreditation, and creating a ‘One Nation One Data Platform’ for data integrity and transparency.
Sahasrabudhe said that NAAC will hold a meeting with experts on February 16 and 17 to finalise the new accreditation framework and further tighten the rules to ensure the integrity of the process.
