Why does the National Education Policy 2020 propose the creation of separate verticals within the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI)?

The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 proposes the creation of a single overarching regulatory body for higher education—the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) to streamline governance, improve transparency, and eliminate fragmentation in the system. Within this body, separate verticals are proposed to ensure clarity of roles and to prevent the overlap of functions.

Key PointsThe main purpose of creating these independent verticals is to avoid the concentration of power, reduce conflicts of interest, and enhance accountability. Each vertical is assigned a specific role:

• National Higher Education Regulatory Council (NHERC) for regulation,
• National Accreditation Council (NAC) for accreditation,
• Higher Education Grants Council (HEGC) for funding,
• General Education Council (GEC) for academic standards.

This functional separation ensures that no single entity controls all aspects of higher education thereby promoting transparency, specialization, and efficiency in governance.

Hence, the correct answer is to avoid concentration of power, reduce conflicts of interest and promote accountability through functional separation.