Why Higher Education Regulation Bill sent to joint panel after opposition flags centralisation, federalism concerns: Explained

New Delhi: The Union government has decided to send the Higher Education Regulator Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for further discussion. The decision has been taken after objections from opposition parties as per whom the Bill is too wide in scope and needs deeper examination before being passed.

The Bill introduced in the Lok Sabha aims to create a new system to regulate universities and higher education institutions across India. As per the government, the Bill will improve quality and standards, however, the opposition argues that it could harm federal principles and reduce the role of states in education.

The Bill officially called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill 2025 proposes setting up a single higher education commission along with three separate councils. These bodies would look after regulation, accreditation and academic standards for universities and colleges.

Under the proposed law, the regulator would have the power to penalise institutions that violate rules. Penalties could range from financial fines to stricter action in serious cases. However, the Bill does not give the regulator power to fix or control fees in private institutions.

The new commission would cover all central universities and colleges as well as institutions of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education. These include IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs and IIMs. At present, IITs and IIMs are not regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC). The commission will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President of India.

The Bill tasks the government to develop a policy to 'prevent commercialisation of higher education.' However, the regulatory council will have significant punitive powers.

The Bill allows the council to impose penalties on institutions for violations of the Act with fines starting from a minimum of Rs 10 lakh to up to Rs 2 crore.

Opposition members strongly opposed the Bill alleging that it undermines federalism and concentrates excessive power in the centre. Congress MP Manish Tewari argued that the legislation results in 'excessive centralisation' and violates the constitutional distribution of legislative competence adding that it suffers from excessive delegation of legislative power.

DMK MP K Premachandran said the Bill goes against federal principles laid down in the constitution. Congress MP Jothimani and DMK member T M Selvaganapathy objected to the nomenclature of the Bill stating that it violates Article 348(1)(B) of the constitution which mandates that Bills be in English. 

TMC MP Saugata Roy criticised the Parliamentary Affairs Ministr  pointing out that the introduction of the Bill was not mentioned in the list of business circulated until 1 PM on the day of introduction.