CHENNAI: The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has decided to include professors from Institutions of Eminence (IoEs) – IITs, NITs and IISc – in the expert visit committee (EVC), which would inspect the infrastructure and facilities at engineering colleges.
In a recent addendum citing changes in the approval process handbook for 2025-2026, AICTE mentioned that all the scrutiny, re-scrutiny and EVC visits would be conducted both online and through hybrid mode, and that the committee should comprise four experts.
“The team will include a chairman, who shall be an educationist/academician of eminence, not below the level of vice-chancellor of a university or an IIT professor (retired or in position),” mentioned the revised rules. Of the four experts, two would be based out of AICTE headquarters, and the other two, including a professor from an IoE, would visit the institution, it said.
Further, the addendum mentioned that for larger institutions, the number of experts and their names should be decided by the chairman or a competent authority of the council.
As per the previous guidelines, all the scrutiny and EVC inspections were conducted online, except under extraordinary circumstances (including court directions), during which the scrutiny or re-scrutiny was conducted offline.
Previously, the rules mentioned that the academician in the EVC was not below the level of professor in a field of technical education and was selected from a panel of experts approved by the executive committee of AICTE, whereas another member, not below the level of an associate professor or an industry expert with a five-year experience, was selected from the panel.
Several engineering colleges welcomed the inclusion of professors for the IoEs in the committee, expecting the move would ensure quality inspection of institutions.
A faculty member of a private engineering college said, “Earlier, the national-level council had decided to conduct scrutiny only through online mode, but now they will conduct it in a hybrid mode, which will help keep a better tab on the institutions.”