New Delhi: The Union Cabinet Friday approved the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhikshan Bill to establish a single, overarching regulator for higher education, previously known as the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) Bill, ThePrint has learnt.
The new body will set and enforce standards across sectors of higher education, except medical and legal education.
The bill, which is likely to be introduced in Parliament next week, aims to establish HECI as the sole authority responsible for coordinating and determining standards in higher education, research, and scientific and technical institutions nationwide.
When passed in Parliament, the bill will merge three existing regulators—the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE)—into a unified, central body. Currently, the UGC regulates non-technical higher-education institutions in India, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE regulates teacher education.
The bill, passed by the Cabinet now, was envisioned by the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which proposed four verticals of HECI. These four pillars are: The National Higher Education Regulatory Council (NHERC) for regulation, the National Accreditation Council (NAC) for accreditation, the Higher Education Grants Council (HEGC) for funding, and the General Education Council (GEC) for setting learning outcomes.
This is not the first time the bill was introduced. In 2018, the Modi government proposed a draft HECI Bill to replace the UGC with a unified regulatory body. It envisioned a commission with a chairperson, vice-chairperson, and 12 members to set standards and grant autonomy.
However, it did not fully subsume AICTE or NCTE, nor empower HECI to disburse funds, leaving financial control with the Ministry of Education. Criticised for centralising power by various Opposition-ruled states, the bill was revised after the NEP 2020.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
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