Higher education bill may not improve autonomy of HEIs, treats courses inconsistently: Think tank

NEW DELHI: The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, may not significantly improve the autonomy of higher-education institutions (HEIs), according to an analysis by a legislative think tank, which has also pointed out that the bill treats professional courses inconsistently.

The bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha in December last year, following which it was referred to a Joint Committee of Parliament.

"The Bill's provisions may not significantly improve the autonomy of HEIs. In some cases, autonomy already granted to HEIs may be rolled back. This includes the autonomy granted to certain accredited universities to set up constituent units," the analysis by PRS Legislative Research said.

Currently, professional education in India is regulated by 16 professional councils. These bodies lay down the standards for professional practice and conduct examinations to enter the profession. They may also provide norms for physical infrastructure, curriculum, staff qualification and academic standards for HEIs.

"The Bill does not apply to all professional courses consistently. Technical education (currently regulated under the AICTE Act, 1987) and teachers' education (under the NCTE Act, 1993) are being subsumed under the Commission, and the regulators are being dissolved. Institutions offering architecture education will be

regulated by the Commission. However, the Council of Architecture will continue to operate as a professional body, and will be represented in the Councils of the Commission.

"The Bill also allows the central government to notify professional councils; institutions regulated by these councils will come under the purview of the Bill.

However, it explicitly exempts some professional programmes, including legal, medical and veterinary programmes," it said.

The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan (VBSA) Bill, 2025, proposes a massive overhaul of India's higher-education sector by dissolving the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) to create a single, unified regulatory commission. It aims to implement the National Education Policy, 2020, by dividing higher-education oversight into three specialised councils for regulation, accreditation and standards.

The bill is currently being scrutinised by the Join Committee of Parliament and will be taken up for discussion and passage during the upcoming Monsoon session.

"The Bill specifies the grounds for removing full-time members of the councils, who include member-secretaries and academicians not below the rank of professor. However, it does not specify the grounds for removing part-time members (eight of the 14 members of each council).

"These members include experts, representatives of the Council of Architecture and academicians from state HEIs and institutions of national importance. These

grounds will be prescribed in rules framed by the central government. This may amount to excessive delegation," the analysis said.