Higher education regulator bill heads to JPC

NEW DELHI: Amid fierce protests and objections by the Opposition members, Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill in the Lok Sabha. The legislation seeks to set up a 13-member body to regulate institutions of higher education.The bill was introduced amid din over alleged threatening slogans raised against Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a Congress rally on Sunday. As soon as the bill was introduced, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju rose to say since it is a comprehensive bill, the government would like to send it to the joint committee of both Houses for perusal. The bill proposes to establish an overarching higher education commission along with three councils for regulation, accreditation and ensuring academic standards for universities and higher education institutions. With a single regulator, it also seeks to tackle the challenges faced by higher educational institutions due to multiplicity of regulators. 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, and 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. “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 says. It adds 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.



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