Bill to Establish Single Higher Education Regulator Introduced in Lok Sabha

New Delhi: A bill to set up a 13-member body to regulate institutions of higher education was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday with the government expressing willingness to refer it to a joint committee. The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill seeks to establish an overarching higher education commission along with three councils for regulation, accreditation and ensuring academic standards for universities and higher education institutions in India.Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Bill amid din over the issue of alleged threatening slogans raised at a Congress rally on Sunday against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.As soon as Pradhan introduced the Bill, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju rose to say that since it is a comprehensive Bill, the government would like to send it to the joint committee of both Houses for a threadbare examination.According to the Bill, the present challenges faced by higher educational institutions due to multiplicity of regulators having non-harmonised regulatory approval protocols will be done away with.The higher education commission, which will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President of India, will cover all central universities and colleges under it, institutes of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education including IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs, IIMs, and IIITs.At present, IITs and IIMs are not regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).”The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan will be an apex umbrella body to provide direction for comprehensive and holistic growth of higher education and ensure co-ordination between the Councils,” the Bill said.”The Standards Council shall ensure synchronisation and determination of academic standards in higher educational institutions, the Regulatory Council shall ensure co-ordination and maintenance of standards in higher educational institutions, while the Accreditation Council shall be an accrediting body to supervise and oversee an independent ecosystem of accreditation,” it added.The Bill noted that the entire system of regulation will be executed through technology driven single window interactive system for higher educational institutions based upon public self-disclosure.”The Regulatory Council will maintain a public portal wherein the higher educational institutions will be required to report all matters pertaining to financial probity, good governance, all finances, audits, procedures, infrastructure, faculty and staff, courses and educational outcomes.”The information provided on the public portal of the Regulatory Council will also be the basis for accreditation of the higher educational institutions,” it said.



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