Higher education: A bold blueprint for Viksit Bharat

The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025 marks a significant milestone in India’s higher education reform journey. Rooted in the constitutional mandate under Entry 66 of the Union List and aligned with the vision of the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, the Bill lays a strong foundation for coordinated, transparent, and globally benchmarked regulation of higher education. The proposed framework is both timely and progressive, with the potential to substantially strengthen academic excellence, institutional autonomy, and national capacity-building across the higher education ecosystem.

India’s higher education landscape has witnessed unprecedented growth over the past decades, with more than a thousand universities and tens of thousands of higher educational institutions serving over four crore students. While this expansion has enhanced access, it has also resulted in regulatory fragmentation and overlapping compliance requirements due to the existence of multiple statutory bodies.

The proposed Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan (VBSA), as an apex umbrella institution, seeks to streamline this landscape by consolidating standard-setting, accreditation, and regulation under a unified, technology-driven framework. For institutions of higher learning, this rationalisation is a welcome step towards reducing procedural redundancies and enabling greater focus on teaching, research, and innovation.

The Bill’s emphasis on a “light but tight” regulatory architecture, as envisioned by NEP 2020, resonates strongly with the broader higher education sector’s commitment to academic integrity, transparency, and innovation. By shifting the regulatory focus from prescriptive control to outcomes-based oversight, supported by public self-disclosure, the proposed framework promotes trust-based governance while ensuring accountability. The move towards faceless, technology-enabled single-window systems is particularly significant, as it promises efficiency, objectivity, and reduced administrative burden for well-performing institutions.

Importantly, the Bill explicitly safeguards the existing autonomy of Institutions of National Importance, while simultaneously strengthening the overall regulatory environment for universities and other higher educational institutions. The proposed Standards Council, Regulatory Council, and Accreditation Council-operating independently within their respective domains-create a robust checks-and-balances mechanism that upholds academic standards while encouraging institutional differentiation and innovation.

From a strategic standpoint, the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill also complements the vision of institutions of higher learning to foster interdisciplinary education, research-driven teaching, and industry-relevant skill development.

The Bill’s focus on global best practices, flexible academic structures, and continuous reskilling directly supports efforts across the higher education sector to prepare future-ready graduates capable of addressing complex economic, technological, and societal challenges. Enhanced transparency, student feedback-driven evaluation, and a strong grievance redressal mechanism further contribute to building a learner-centric ecosystem.

Equally significant is the Bill’s emphasis on youth empowerment and Atmanirbharta in higher education. By enabling institutions to innovate responsibly and align academic offerings with national development priorities, the proposed framework strengthens the talent pipeline essential for India’s economic and social transformation. The Bill provides an enabling environment for institutions of higher learning to deepen their contributions to nation-building and the broader vision of Viksit Bharat.

In conclusion, the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025 represents a forward-looking reform that balances autonomy with accountability, innovation with integrity, and growth with quality. The higher education community views this legislation as a constructive step towards creating a coherent, globally competitive, and future-ready higher education system. Institutions of higher learning remain committed to working within this evolving framework to uphold excellence, nurture talent, and contribute meaningfully to India’s journey towards a developed and self-reliant nation.

The writer is Director, Indian Institute of Management Mumbai, and Professor, Industrial and Systems Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur; views are personal