Inside Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill: Former UGC Chairman On Funding, Autonomy And States

The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, has been introduced in Parliament by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, proposing a sweeping overhaul of India's higher education regulatory system. The new Bill changes how funds are transferred from the Centre to universities, considers inputs from states and their universities, and ensures no interruption in multidisciplinary programmes. If passed, the Bill will replace existing regulators - the University Grants Commission (UGC), All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) - with a single apex body. To understand the implications of this proposed shift, NDTV spoke to former UGC Chairman Professor M. Jagadesh Kumar. When asked why the name of the Bill is in Hindi, whereas it was earlier titled the Higher Education Commission of India, Prof. Kumar said the word "Vikas" has linguistic roots across Indian languages, including South Indian languages such as Telugu.