The Union Cabinet approved a key bill on Friday. And then the decades-old higher education structure in India, featuring multiple regulatory bodies, was set for a massive overhaul.
The decision clears the way for a single higher education regulator, which is a core proposal of the National Education Policy (NEP). The proposed body—which was previously called the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI)—is now named the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhikshan.
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The Bodies Being Replaced
This new entity will replace several well-known and long-standing regulatory institutions. That happened.
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University Grants Commission (UGC): This body oversees non-technical higher education.
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All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE): This body oversees technical education.
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National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE): This is the regulatory body for teachers’ education.
The thing is, the NEP 2020 explicitly emphasized the need for this change, stating that the regulatory system required a “complete overhaul” to “re-energise the higher education sector.”
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The New Regulator’s Roles (And What It Won’t Do)
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhikshan will be powerful, but its functions are specifically defined and limited.
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Three Major Roles: The new regulator will handle:
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Regulation
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Accreditation
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Setting Professional Standards
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The Exclusions (Here’s the kicker): Crucially, the body will have no role in funding. That autonomy for funding is proposed to stay with the administrative ministry. Also, it will not supervise medical or law colleges.
The push to make this single regulator a reality has been an ongoing priority initiated under Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan since July 2021. The NEP 2020 insists that the functions of regulation, accreditation, funding, and academic standard setting need to be performed by distinct, independent bodies, which is exactly what this new structure aims to achieve. The goal is cleaner, more focused oversight.
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