National Education Policy 2020 has introduced structural, curricular and governance reforms in Indian higher education with emphasis on multidisciplinary education, flexibility, research, and holistic development. National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), as the apex quality assurance body, plays a crucial role in evaluating and indirectly facilitating the implementation of NEP 2020 in colleges through its criteria-based accreditation framework. This analytical study examines the alignment between NAAC’s seven assessment criteria and NEP 2020 reforms. The paper critically evaluates how accreditation mechanisms such as SSR, DVV, Student Satisfaction Survey, and Peer Team Visits function as instruments of policy enforcement. The study identifies institutional preparedness, governance restructuring, research ecosystem strengthening, and digital transformation as core dimensions of implementation. The findings suggest that NAAC acts not merely as an assessment agency but as a regulatory-structural catalyst accelerating systemic reform in higher education institutions.
Amlpure et al. (Sat,) studied this question.