Indian law requires that universities be accredited unless created through an act of Parliament. Without accreditation, the government notes, "These fake institutions have no legal entity to call themselves as University/Vishwvidyalaya and to award 'degree' which are not treated as valid for academic/employment purposes." The University Grants Commission Act 1956 explains,
"the right of conferring or granting degrees shall be exercised only by a University established or incorporated by or under a Central Act carlo bon tempo, or a State Act, or an Institution deemed to be University or an institution specially empowered by an Act of the Parliament to confer or grant degrees. Thus, any institution which has not been created by an enactment of Parliament or a State Legislature or has not been granted the status of a Deemed to be University, is not entitled to award a degree."
Accreditation for higher learning is overseen by autonomous institutions established by the University Grants Commission:
All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE)
Distance Education Council (DEC)
Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)
Bar Council of India (BCI)
National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC)
National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE)
Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI)
Medical Council of India (MCI)
Pharmacy Council of India (PCI)
Indian Nursing Council (INC)
Dental Council of India (DCI)
Central Council of Homeopathy (CCH)
Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM)
Veterinary Council of India (VCI)
Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI)
The issue of assessing and assuring quality of Indian higher education is a challenge. Instead of aiming for 'world-class' universities through rankings, policy framework must improve the processes that enable accountability through data collection and reporting on parameters of institutional quality. The government should leverage this tool to improve quality of the overall system.
A study was done on autonomous colleges by the Centre for Public Policy Research (CPPR) in Kerala recommended that grading should be done for such institutions to improve their overall performance.