Experts warn VBSA Bill could marginalise regional varsities

Education experts and academics have warned that the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan (VBSA) Bill, 2025 could deepen funding inequities among higher education institutions and push them to prioritise centrally aligned curricula, pointing out that the legislation proposes grants disbursal “through mechanisms devised by the ministry of education” with funding decisions guided by the VBSA regulatory council's “feedback on institutional performance.”

- Sanjay Maurya

The VBSA Bill, introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 15 and referred toa Joint Parliamentary Committee a day later, seeks to replace the UGC, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE). It provides for the repeal of the UGC ‘Act, 1956, the AICTE Act, 1987 and the NCTE Act, 1993, and the dissolution of these bodies.

The proposed 12-member VBSA commission will coordinate the functioning of three councils: the Regulatory Council (Viksit Bharat Shiksha Viniyaman Parishad); the Standards Council (Viksit Bharat Shiksha Manak Parishad); and the Accreditation Council (Viksit Bharat Shiksha Gunvatta Parishad). The first will authorise institutions to award degrees, the second, define learning outcomes and faculty qualifications, and the third, design and oversee the accreditation framework.

Unlike the UGC, the new regulator will not havea dedicated fundingarm, even though the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 envisaged a separate grants council under the new regulatory framework. The bill also does not empower the regulatory council to fix fees, limiting it instead to framing a policy to “prevent commercialisation of higher education.”

Under the new bill, all higher education institutions — except medical, legal, dental, pharmaceutical and veterinary institutions — will come under the VBSA commission.

Academics argue that this structural shift, where funding decisions are guided by regulatory feedback, could make universities risk-averse and disproportionately penalise institutions inrural and underserved regions. Though the VBSA does not explicitly mandate a centralised curriculum, experts say incentive-driven accreditation is likely to nudge institutions towards standardised, template-based teaching aligned with national models rather than locally grounded or innovative curricula.