The Higher Education Bill may lead to a concentration of powers in a single central regulator: the House of Representatives

The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025 will lead to the concentration of vast regulatory powers in a single central regulator, affecting institutional autonomy, a joint committee of Parliament has observed.

According to the joint committee’s draft report, which was circulated to members, the architecture of tiered sanctions proposed in the bill cannot be imposed arbitrarily.

The bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha in December last year, after which it was referred to a joint committee of Parliament.

The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan (VBSA) Bill 2025 proposes a massive overhaul of India’s higher education sector by disbanding the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) to form a single unified regulatory commission.

On Thursday, the government tabled the bill for review and approval after receiving the report.

“The committee expressed concern that the concentration of extensive regulatory powers in a single central regulator could lead to bureaucratic or ideological overreach, thereby affecting the institutional autonomy currently available under the existing UGC framework,” the draft report said.

Architecture of graduated penalties

The committee noted that the bill proposes a tiered architecture of sanctions, but pointed out that the regulatory board cannot impose sanctions arbitrarily.

The committee also recommends that the Department develop appropriate rules to ensure that the process of filling foreseeable vacancies, such as those resulting from retirement or superannuation, is started at least six months in advance and completed within 90 days of the vacancy.

“Fines are linked to proven violations of the standards. The main purpose of the introduction of the sanctions system is to strengthen the deterrence against institutions that habitually and repeatedly violate the standards… The committee notes that, from the point of view of individual and institutional responsibility, the provisions of the law remove the “corporate veil” that is often used by the promoters of fraudulent institutions.

“Furthermore, even for legitimate colleges (colleges), repeated violations now carry the risk of removing specific staff found responsible for the violation, shifting the onus of compliance to individual heads and trustees,” it said.

The committee agreed that the presidents and full-time members of the council should be appointed by the President of India on the recommendation of the search selection committee.

“However, in the case of other members of the commissions and councils, apart from the ex-officio members and the member secretary of the commissions and councils, the committee suggested that they should be appointed by the central government rather than the president on the recommendation of the central government, as many central institutions currently suffer from delays in the appointment of members and the involvement of a long period,” he said.

The bill aims to implement the National Education Policy (NEP) by 2020 by dividing the oversight of higher education into three specialized councils for regulation, accreditation and standards.

Published – 17 Jul 2026 03:41 IST