NAAC debars 7 inspection panel members arrested in graft case

The autonomous accreditation body has also launched a probe into the past visits by the accused members to colleges and universities.

New Delhi: The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) has debarred seven members of its inspection committee, who were arrested last week by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a bribery case, from further visits to higher educational institutions for evaluation, NAAC’s executive committee chairman Prof Anil D Sahasrabudhe said on Wednesday.

The autonomous accreditation body has also launched a probe into the past visits by the accused members to colleges and universities. (HT PHOTO)

The autonomous accreditation body has also launched a probe into the past visits by the accused members to colleges and universities, Sahasrabudhe said, terming the bribery incident “deeply unfortunate” and “shocking”.

“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,” he told HT.

Sahasrabudhe added: “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. CBI will assist us in uncovering the full extent of the issue.”

He also said that the physical inspection of higher education institutes by the inspection committee for data verification will soon be made digital in line with the recommendations of the Radhakrishnan Committee’s report, submitted to the education ministry last year.

CBI has arrested 10 individuals, including NAAC inspection committee chairman Samarendra Nath Saha, (vice-chancellor, Ramchandra Chandravansi University), committee members Rajeev Sijariya (professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University), Gayathri Devaraja (professor, Davangere University), M Hanumanthappa (professor, Bangalore University) and office-bearers of Guntur-based Koneru Lakshmaiah Education Foundation (KLEF) in the corruption case.

The case pertains to allegations of bribes being paid to secure an A++ rating for KLEF in Andhra Pradesh during a NAAC inspection. The federal agency has claimed that KLEF officials sought favourable accreditation by bribing NAAC inspection committee members.

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.

NAAC inspection committees, composed of academic experts from various universities, conduct physical assessments of institutes and send the assessment report to NAAC within two days of their visit to the institutes.

CBI claimed that it has recovered ₹37 lakh in cash, six laptops, and one iPhone from the accused. On Monday, JNU suspended Sijariya over his alleged involvement in the case.

“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.