Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill: What the Government Is Proposing & Why

Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill: What the Government Is Proposing & Why 🎯 Why a New Law? Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pr...

Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill: What the Government Is Proposing & Why

🎯 Why a New Law?

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan says India’s higher education system has grown rapidly but is over-regulated and fragmented.

Current situation:

~60,000 institutions
- 1,200 universities
- 6,000–7,000 autonomous colleges
- 15,000 teacher education institutions
Multiple regulators and bodies:
- UGC, AICTE, NCTE, NAAC, statutory councils, and institutions of national importance

👉 Result: Overlapping powers, duplication of work, conflicts of interest, and inefficiency

🧩 The Core Problem

UGC originally handled regulation + standards + accreditation
Over time, parallel bodies were created:
- AICTE (technical education)
- NCTE (teacher education)
- Sector-specific councils (Architecture, etc.)
Many institutions run UG, PG, and professional courses, forcing them to deal with multiple regulators for the same data

🏛️ Proposed New Structure

The Bill proposes a single, simplified regulatory framework with:

Three Autonomous Councils

Standards Council – sets academic standards
Regulatory Council – handles permissions and compliance
Accreditation Council – assesses quality

➡️ All three will function independently, but under:

One apex body for coordination, finance, and administration

🧠 Autonomy & Global Competitiveness

Institutional autonomy is the central pillar
Universities will get flexibility to:
- Design interdisciplinary courses
- Align with global academic standards
Example:
- A medical student studying management or other cross-disciplinary subjects

🏫 Role of States

No change in how state universities function
Education remains on the Concurrent List
Centre will focus on standards and coordination, not interference

🚫 Action Against Fake Universities

Strong provisions to curb:
- Fake universities
- Unregulated expansion
Penalties for violations
Minister’s approach:

“Light but tight — no overregulation, zero malpractices”

🔍 Transparent Accreditation & Student Feedback

Accreditation based on:
- Self-declared institutional data
- Discreet student feedback
Institutional data will be:
- Publicly available
- Open to scrutiny

📊 Rankings, Skills & Research

New ranking framework in addition to NIRF
New credit architecture for:
- Reskilling
- Upskilling
Push for:
- Research
- Innovation
- Entrepreneurship
Goal: improve Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER)

🏛️ Parliamentary Scrutiny

A 31-member Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) formed
Consultations underway
Report expected by end of February

📌 Bottom Line

The government sees the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill as a structural reform aligned with the National Education Policy, aimed at creating a: