The Most Controversial Education Bill Ever: BJP VS UGC

On Monday, the Union government brought in front of the lower house a major bill, which aims at the complete overhaul of India's higher education regulatory framework. The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, was presented by the Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. It expects the formation of a single regulatory body under which universities and other higher educational institutions in India would be monitored.

The government says that the new act intends to substitute the present highly divided regulatory system with a single unified regulatory body, which would pay more attention to academic standards, outcome-based accreditation, and granting greater autonomy to institutions. By establishing a new entity called Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan, transparency will be one of the main features of the system, besides quality levels and self-rule being really encouraged in higher education institutions.

The Bill Introduces

The draft law provides for the abolition of the existing regulators, namely the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE). A new single commission with three separate functional councils will replace them:

• A Regulatory Council
• An Accreditation Council
• A Standards Council

The commission will consist of 12 people. The members will be the chairs of the three councils, the Union higher education secretary, two academicians from state universities, five experts from the education sector, and one member secretary. The appointments will be carried out by the central government following the recommendations of a three-member search committee.

The Bill also provides for strict, harsh measures for breach of provisions. For example, establishments without proper sanction could face a minimum penalty of ₹2 crore. In contrast, other types of violations may result in fines as low as ₹10 lakh and as high as ₹30 lakh. Repeated offences might result in at least ₹75 lakh fines or even a suspension of the entity.

Opposition Pushback in Parliament

The Bill’s introduction into Parliament was met with stiff opposition from parliamentary opposition groups. Some of these groups not only criticized the content of the Bill but also the manner in which it was introduced. Several MPs alleged that the Bill was circulated at the last moment which made it impossible to scrutinize it properly.

Manish‍‌‍‍‌‍‌‍‍‌ Tewari, a Congress MP, expressed his apprehension about the Bill aligning with the constitution in his speech. According to him, the Bill overly empowers the Central government and diminishes the federal structure of the country. Besides, Manish Tewari argued that the "core" issues, such as accreditation norms, penalties, the authority to grant degrees, and institutional autonomy, being referred to executive regulations rather than parliament ‍‌‍‍‌‍‌‍‍‌oversight.

Members of parliament from south India were of the opinion that the choice of the name for the Bill was their main problem. According to them, the government was trying to impose a Sanskritised or Hindi-heavy nomenclature on them. MPs from DMK, RSP, Congress, and other parties believed that the naming and structuring of the Bill were examples of centralization and that as a result the role of the state government in the governance of higher education has been diminished.

Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Roy regrets the poor way in which the government handled the situation by circulating the Bill at the last moment only. He further said that it might result in the loss of state universities' autonomy, where they will be under the control of the Centre but to a greater degree.

Government Responds, Seeks Wider Review

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju responding to the issues raised, said that the government was aware of the demand for a more detailed examination. He declared that the Centre would consent to the referral of the Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) in order to allow more consultation and detailed discussion.  

Cabinet had given its nod to the Bill last week and it was earlier referred to as the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) Bill. Its passing would be one of the most significant changes in the governance of Indian higher education in years.

Currently, the planned legislation is up for further scrutiny as the political dispute surrounding centralisation, autonomy and federal balance is getting more heated in ‍‌‍‍‌‍‌‍‍‌Parliament.