In addition to Hazare, complaints against NCTE’s alleged corrupt ways have also come from former Rajya Sabha Congress MP Ram Niwas Mirdha. HRD Ministry officials also confirmed that there were several complaints against the body.
Incidentally, the HRD Ministry had constituted a committee led by former education secretary Sudeep Banerjee to examine the relevance of NCTE. Suggesting that the body be repealed, the committee had recommended that Diploma in Education (D Ed) and Bachelor of Education (B Ed) courses could easily be conducted by universities and there was no need for an additional body like NCTE. The HRD Ministry had even circulated a Cabinet note on the same in May 2007 but then the matter was suddenly buried. With Hazare’s complaint, the NCTE repeal issue has been revived and even the PMO is said to have asked the HRD Ministry to re-examine the issue.