Overview
- Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, which proposes a single apex commission with three councils for regulation, accreditation and standards.
- The Bill brings central and state universities and institutes of national importance, including IITs and IIMs, under its ambit while excluding professional programmes such as medicine and law.
- It repeals and subsumes the UGC, AICTE and NCTE, establishing a 12‑member commission headed by a President‑appointed chairperson, with councils of up to 14 members each.
- Appointments to the commission and councils would be made by the President on recommendations of central search panels, a design criticized by opposition MPs as concentrating authority with the Centre.
- The Regulatory Council would wield graded penalties from ₹10 lakh to ₹75 lakh, levy about ₹2 crore for unauthorised institutions and suspend degree‑granting powers, while funding functions shift to mechanisms devised by the Education Ministry with technology‑driven public self‑disclosure by institutions.