The Narendra Modi government on Friday appointed M. Jagadesh Kumar, the in-charge vice-chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University, as the chairman of higher education regulator University Grants Commission (UGC).

Kumar will serve as the UGC head for five years or till he turns 65, whichever is earlier. The post had been vacant since D.P. Singh completed his tenure in December.

The commission is responsible for maintaining standards at higher educational institutions and releasing grants to them. The government is planning to bring in a Higher Education Commission of India that will subsume the UGC, All India Council for Technical Education and the National Council for Teacher Education.

Kumar’s tenure at JNU has been marked by controversial decisions such as scrapping the extra deprivation points policy in the admission of students from backward regions, issuance of chargesheets to faculty members for participating in protests, and taking no action over an attack on students.