The Union government’s decision to strip the regulatory authority of funding powers and create separate regulatory, accreditation and standardization boards for higher education institutions under the proposed Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill 2025 was a “conscious” move in line with the draft National Education Policy 2020 to minimize conflicts of interest, senior government officials said on 25-Dec-16.
They said that is why the bill has separated the three roles of regulation, accreditation and standard setting. However, officials said that the function of disbursing grants, which is currently performed by the Higher Education Grants Commission, is proposed to be performed by the Ministry of Education.
Without giving details, education ministry officials said that under the proposed law, the mechanism to be used to disburse grants to central universities would be “similar to or better than the existing mechanisms”. They added that institutional compliance performance will continue to be a “major factor” in deciding the amount of funding to be distributed, but not the only one, citing the need for a “holistic view” when making grants.
The VBSA Bill, introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday (December 15, 2025) over opposition objections, proposes an overhaul of India’s regulatory framework for higher education, replacing the UGC, the All India Council for Technical Education and the National Council for Teacher Education with a single apex body – the VBSA, which will “autonomously coordinate the regulatory, regulatory and regulatory council”. Most notably, it takes away the grant-making power of the regulatory body, a power exercised by the UGC in the current system.
A coalition of teachers’ and students’ associations and unions from across the country raised objections to the proposal to strip the regulator of funding powers, saying that keeping that power under the direct control of the Department of Education would risk the grants being subject to “political influence”.
Education Ministry officials explained that while the NEP 2020 proposed a separate Board for the disbursement of grants that the UGC currently disburses to central universities, “it was a conscious decision that this would not be possible” due to the multitude of “sources and avenues” through which higher education institutions across the country receive funding.
As the government tabled the bill in the Lok Sabha on Monday (December 15, 2025), it proposed that the bill be sent to a 31-member joint committee of Parliament to be set up by the Speaker for consideration.
Officials said on Tuesday (Dec 16, 2025) that the government hopes to engage in a vigorous debate on the provisions of the bill and supports proposals to be submitted to the panel. Officials said the government hoped to receive the panel’s report in time for the bill to be tabled in parliament for approval by the end of the next budget session.
Addressing opposition concerns that the bill would deprive state-run higher education institutions of their autonomy, a senior official said that this “political reform” has made way for state representatives on the Regulatory, Accreditation and Standardization Boards, noting that the autonomous institutes that they have in their curriculum, syllabi, etc., will not be affected at present.
Explaining the provisions of the VBSA Act, 2025, the official added that under the current system, regulation, accreditation and standard setting are done by various authorities and bodies such as UGC, All India Council for Technical Education and National Council for Teacher Education. “In many cases, these bodies perform all three functions of regulation, accreditation and standard-setting, leading to conflicts of interest, duplication of regulatory requirements and overlapping functions,” the official said, stressing the need to bring them together.
A second official explained that through this proposed law, the government hopes to standardize rules and regulations, including how colleges are categorized. “The current nomenclature of institutions, such as what is considered a university, causes a lot of confusion,” the officials said, adding, “The institutions as they exist today will remain, but what we call them may change.”
The first official said: “Disciplines like artificial intelligence are something we could not have thought of ten years ago. There are also so many multi-disciplinary courses starting nowadays to equip the nascent ecosystem of the country; these require setting standards. There is a need to anticipate skill growth and up-skilling. The need today is change.” The official added that the bill also gives powers to impose “genuine penalties” for non-compliance, unlike the current system where the UGC can impose fines of up to ₹1,000, and “reports of bogus universities have been mushrooming”.
The bill imposes fines ranging from ₹10 million to ₹2 million and above for various violations, including repeat violations. The highest fines are set for institutes operating without the required accreditation. The law also aims to keep the compliance system and data “open to public scrutiny” and ensure “public availability,” officials added.
Published – 16 Dec 2025 22:27 IST
