NAAC chief Bhushan Patwardhan resigns to 'safeguard sanctity of post'

National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) chairperson Bhushan Patwardhan has resigned, saying he was doing so to safeguard "the sanctity of the post", days after alleging that universities were obtaining questionable grades through unfair means.

In a letter to University Grants Commission Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar on Sunday night, Patwardhan said he was resigning from his post.

"After careful reconsideration of the entire subject, I hereby resign from the position of Chairman of the Executive Committee, NAAC, Bengaluru in the larger interest of the UGC, NAAC, and Indian higher education system," he wrote.

"I wish to reiterate that I had nothing personal in this matter but it was an act to safeguard self-respect and the sanctity of the post of chairman EC and the NAAC," he added.

NAAC is an autonomous body under the UGC that assesses and certifies higher educational institutions with gradings as part of accreditation.

Patwardhan last week demanded an "independent inquiry" into UGC's move to appoint an "additional chairman without any legal authority".

In another letter to the UGC chairman last month, Patwardhan alleged that "vested interests and malpractices" were leading to some higher educational institutes obtaining "questionable grades". He also expressed his "intent to resign" in that letter.

There was no comment from UGC on the subject.