Panel Flags Autonomy Risks under VBSA Bill

Syllabus: GS2/Education/Governance

Context

• The joint parliamentary committee has noted that the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025 will lead to the concentration of extensive regulatory powers in a single central regulator.

Key Features of the Bill

• Regulatory Body:  The Bill establishes the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan (the Commission) as an apex regulatory authority for higher education.
  • It replaces the University Grants Commission (UGC), All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE). The Commission will comprise the Regulatory, Accreditation, and Standards Councils.  
  • It will regulate technical education, teacher-training, and architecture education.  Other professional courses, such as medicine and law have been excluded from its purview.
• Composition of the Commission:  The Commission will consist of a Chairperson and up to 12 members.  Members include:
  • The Presidents of the three Councils,
  • The higher education secretary of the central government,
  • The five eminent experts, and 
  • Two eminent academicians from state HEIs. The Chairperson will be selected by the central government. 
• Composition of the Councils:  Each Council will consist of 14 members headed by a President.  Members will include eminent experts, one nominee of the Union Department of Higher Education, and nominees of the other two Councils.
• Functions of the Councils: The Regulatory Council will be responsible for establishing and ensuring compliance with minimum standards for setting up an HEI, facilitating the autonomy of HEIs in a timely manner, and addressing grievances received from stakeholders against HEIs.
  • The Standards Council will be responsible for framing learning outcomes for higher education programmes, and minimum academic standards for HEIs.  
  • The Accreditation Council will be responsible for developing an accreditation framework and system for HEIs.
• Removal of members:  The Chairperson, Presidents, or any full-time members of the Commission or the Councils may be removed on grounds of; insolvency, conviction of offence involving moral turpitude, physical or mental incapacity, or abuse of powers.
• Right to confer degrees:  Degrees may be granted only by:
  • A university (established by a central or state Act or deemed under the UGC Act, 1956), or 
  • An institution specially empowered by a central Act, or
  • Other HEIs authorised by the Regulatory Council with the prior approval of the central government.

Key Issue of the Bill

• Autonomy of HEIs: The Bill’s provisions may not significantly improve the autonomy of higher education institutions (HEIs). In some cases, autonomy already granted to HEIs may be rolled back.
  • Currently, institutes of national importance are governed under their specific laws, with academic and research autonomy.  The Bill brings such institutes under the purview of the Commission and its Councils.
  • The Committee expressed apprehension that concentration of extensive regulatory powers in a single central regulator could lead to bureaucratic or ideological overreach, thereby affecting institutional autonomy.
• Funding: Allocating and granting funds is a key function of the UGC.
  • The Bill does not include this as a function of the Commission or its Councils.  
  • The National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 had recommended setting up a single regulator with four verticals for regulation, accreditation, funding, and standard setting.  The Bill sets up three of these, excluding funding.
• The Bill treats professional courses inconsistently.
  • Technical, management, and teacher education will come under the VBSA Commission.
  • Architecture education will be regulated by the Commission, while the Council of Architecture will continue as a professional body.
  • Medical, legal, and certain other professional courses remain outside its ambit.
• Penalty: The committee noted that the bill has proposed a graded penalty architecture but flagged that penalties cannot be imposed arbitrarily by the Regulatory Council.
• Appeals against decisions of the Councils will be made to the central government.  This is unlike the procedure for other regulators, such as SEBI and TRAI.
• Grounds for removal of part-time members not provided.

Recommendations by the Committee

• Filling Vacancies: The ministry shall frame appropriate rules to ensure that the process for filling predictable vacancies, such as those arising from retirement or superannuation, is initiated at least six months in advance and completed within 90 days of the occurrence of the vacancy.
• The committee accepted that the presidents and full-time members of the council be appointed by the President of India on the recommendation of the search-cum-selection committee.
  • Other Members of the Commission and the Councils may be appointed by the Central Government rather than by the President of India.
  • Presently many central institutions are suffering because of delay in appointment of the Members and the involvement of a long gestation of time period.

Source: TH