Overview
- NCERT, named a “deemed to be university” in a Monday, March 30 notification from the Education Ministry, now comes under Section 3 of the UGC Act.
- The designation covers six constituent units, including Regional Institutes of Education in Ajmer, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Mysuru and Shillong, plus the vocational institute in Bhopal.
- NCERT can offer diploma, undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD programmes, and its regional institutes can add courses without seeking approval from earlier affiliate universities.
- The notification requires compliance with UGC norms, bans profit-making activities, mandates participation in NIRF rankings and NAAC/NBA accreditation, and orders creation of an Academic Bank of Credits.
- The move followed a staged process from a 2022 application to UGC approval on January 30, 2026, and it has prompted faculty warnings about potential loss of academic autonomy.