Dharmendra Pradhan introduces Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill 2025 in parliament

VBSA Bill 2025: Education ministry Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill 2025 in Lok Sabha on Monday, December 15, with just four days left of the winter session of parliament. The VBSE Bill 2025 – the name replacing the precious Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) Bill – was cleared by the cabinet on Friday and the draft circulated on Sunday night.

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The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill seeks to set up a single higher education regulatory body replacing the existing University Grants Commission (UGC), All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE). It also takes away the regulatory powers from the Council of Architecture. Unlike the UGC and AICTE, the new body will not have the power to make grants to universities.

The bill was listed in a “supplementary list of business” issued by the parliament secretariat on Monday.

Education Ministry: VBSA ‘light but tight’ regulator

Dharmendra Pradhan’s note with the draft bill says, “The size, scale and complexities of higher education sector inIndia have increased manifold with over one thousand universities and more than sixty thousand higher educational institutions, with more than four crore students enrolled therein. The expansion of higher education system has also seen establishment of several statutory regulatory bodies, requiring multiple approvals by higher educational institutions, inspections, etc., resulting in over-regulation of the sector and duplication of control. There exists a strong need for providing simplified regulatory systems for higher educational institutions in the country.”

The note also points out that the National Education Policy 2020 recommends a “revision and revamping of all aspects of the education structure…while building upon the traditions and value systems of our nation” and a “light but tight” structure.