The difference between one man and another is not mere ability - it is energy and passion for what one believes in. And is passionate about maintaining high standards of education in India. With technical institutes in the country multiplying by the day, aspiring engineers have never had it so good. But there is another side to the story of proliferating private engineering colleges; that of falling standards and broken rules. Shortage of proper faculty has forced many of them to compromise with the requirements laid down by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). But now, the parent body for technical education in the country has come down heavily on institutes flouting teacher recruitment guidelines and introduced a unique performance audit for them.

A committee formed to look into the issue of poor faculty standards is also toying with the idea of making it mandatory for teachers of technical colleges to have passed the GATE exam. "Most private colleges have B.Techs as teachers since senior professionals are hard to get. This was affecting the standard of teaching and something had to be done. Since we are gradually taking on the role of a facilitator, it has to be ensured that the institutes are transparent and accountable," says Yadav. He also plans to introduce a periodic auditing of technical colleges to ensure they maintain their standards.

The idea is to bring the standards of some of the programmes offered in technical institutions on a par with those in institutions across USA and Europe. Yadav who has a sharp eye for details, has designed a rigorous exercise, with several parameters being taken into consideration such as quality of teaching, level of research, faculty expertise, evaluation of teachers and standard of infrastructure available in the campus, such as hostel facility, library, medical facility etc. ''We have initiated a series of measures to ensure that norms and regulations prescribed for technical-education institutions are strictly adhered to. Earlier, expanding the availability of education was priority. In the past decade, it has quickly grown, and now it's time for consolidation,'' Yadav said. With the focus shifting to quality in the current year, AICTE has approved only 211 of the 767 applications for permission to start new courses.

In June 2005, Yadav along with the council issued new guidelines for institutes to make disclosures on several parameters to 'help students make informed decisions'. Information such as number of teachers and their qualification is now available for public scrutiny. ''The compliance is good. This will ensure transparency in the running of these institutions,'' said Yadav. ''However, we do not want our regulations to be an obstacle; we only want to be a facilitator. We give sufficient warnings and persuade institutions to improve. Withdrawing recognition is the last resort,'' Yadav said. The highly laureate Dr. Yadav holds a Master Degree specializing in Finance and Control with first-class, first rank (Gold Medalist) from the University Business School, Punjab University, Chandigarh. He did his Ph.D. in Finance and Control from Delhi School of Economics. Prior to joining AICTE, Dr. R.A. Yadav has been Professor of Finance and Strategic Management at Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi and Founder Director at Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management, Delhi.

He is highly revered for his active involvement in management education, training, research & consultancy for the last 32 years. Over the years, he says main areas of interest in teaching, research and consultancy are Corporate Restructuring, Corporate Turnaround, Management of Banks & Financial Institutions, Financial Engineering, Risk Management, Venture Capital, Mutual Funds, Management of Financial Services, Project Appraisal, Portfolio Management, Financial Derivatives and Strategic Management. The multifaceted personality has also authored three books and completed five research projects. One of his book was even awarded DMA - Escorts Best Book Award, 1987. His books include "Management & Monitoring of Industrial Sickness", "Managing Corporate Turnaround" and "Financial Ratios and the Prediction of Corporate Failure". Besides the books, he has published a large number of research papers and cases both in national and international journals. He has attended various professional courses both in India and abroad. Dr. R.A. Yadav has eight honours and awards to his credit.

He is the recipient of European Commission Fellowship during 1993-94. He has been Visiting Professor in Katholieke University, Leuven, Belgium and a senior faculty member in Northern India Bank Staff Training College, Delhi and Shri Ram College of Commerce, University of Delhi. He is also Founder Member and Secretary of Indian Financial Management Association (IFMA) and is Editor-in-Chief of Indian Journal of Finance and Research, which is one of the leading journals in Finance in India and abroad. He is also Chief Editor of LBS Journal of Management and Research.

In the past, he has been actively involved in conducting a large number of Management Development Programmes for senior and middle level executives from Government, Private and Public Sector. His programmes are reputed to have created some of the best executives over the years. He has been member of the Board of many organizations and various committees, both Govt. & Corporate. He was Director DSE, nominated by Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for four years from October 1996 to December 2000. He was Director UCO Bank (A Government of India Undertaking) from March 2001 to March 2004. He has been again nominated as Director, UCO Bank since November 2004. He was also Member, SEBI Working Group for Investors Protection & Education. He is a member of Governing Council, Foundation for Academic Excellence and Access (FAEA), funded by Ford Foundation and is also member of AIMA-CMS Advisory Board. More recently, he participated in the World Bank Group and IMF Conference at Washington DC and delivered a series of lectures at various B-Schools in USA. Yadav's various travels abroad, mainly Europe and U.S.A, has only widened his already broadmindedness. Through him the standards of education are rising in India to be at par with the countries abroad. He personally plays a larger role. He is not just teaching. Rather, he is creating the right conditions for them to learn. After all the direction in which a man learns determines his future in life. Yadav has already changed the lives of millions of young students of the present and the future for a future they could have only dreamt of earlier.