NAAC has axed a fifth of its assessors in a crackdown on reviewers who did not meet its required quality standards, officials said on Thursday. The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) has also hired more than 1,000 new reviewers based on recommendations of a committee that included vice-chancellors of several universities. Under fire over alleged irregularities in assessments, NAAC has also halted physical inspection of colleges and moved the process completely online. NAAC is an autonomous body established by the University Grants Commission in 1994 to systematically assess and accredit the higher educational institutions (HEIs), with the objective of quality assurance and improvement in the quality of education. According to the officials, NAAC had more than 7,000 assessors who were responsible for evaluating HEIs in the course of grading the institutions. "Different regions had a different set of assessors, sometimes they had to travel to other parts as well. .