University Grant Commission (UGC).
| Photo Credit: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA
Before the Joint Parliamentary Committee examining the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, institutes and universities across the country have sought a clear framework from the Centre to continue the grant disbursal commitments currently under the University Grants Commission.This came even as members of the JPC, including from the ruling BJP, flagged concerns that the Bill “does not expressly create a mechanism for institutional financial support”.The VBSA Bill was introduced by the government to overhaul the higher education regulatory framework and intends to replace the UGC, the All India Council for Technical Education, and the National Council for Teacher Education with a single umbrella Commission, under which separate regulatory, accreditation, and standards councils will operate. The Bill notably divorces grant-disbursal powers currently held by the UGC from the regulator under the new structure.In the JPC deliberations, BJP MPs, including Bansuri Swaraj and Bhartruhari Mahtab, and other members suggested setting up a separate funding agency or council under the VBSA structure in addition to the regulatory, accreditation, and standards councils. Ms. Swaraj further submitted that the legislation should have a provision mandating that a “successor grant mechanism” should be established within a year of its implementation.Further, institutions like Jamia Milia Islamia, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, Gauhati University, and Central University of Gujarat have said that removing grant-giving powers from the regulator “may create uncertainty for public universities, especially State institutions dependent on Central support”, calling for a specific framework to ensure these grants continue uninterrupted.The Higher Education Department of the Opposition-ruled Telangana government also added to this argument, noting that the UGC’s general development grants—as they stand now—are the “primary statutory channel” of Central funding to State Universities. Noting that the VBSA Bill calls for the repeal of the UGC Act without providing for a replacement for this, the Telangana government has sought assurances from the Union government to specify how these grants and funds to State Universities will be replicated under a new proposed structure.The Bill is currently being reviewed by a JPC headed by BJP MP D. Purandeswari. Members across party lines, NDA-allied State governments, and universities and higher educational institutions have raised concerns over the Bill’s centralising provisions, as reported by The Hindu.The government has said that its VBSA reform was based on the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which called for setting up a unified regulatory commission with regulatory, accreditation, and standards councils under it. However, while the NEP 2020 also called for a separate funding council to be established under this regulator commission, the government has left this out of the VBSA Bill. The government has maintained its position during the JPC deliberations that divorcing grant-giving powers from the regulatory body was essential to avoid conflicts of interest and make funding to institutes more transparent and “performance-based”. “All existing sanctioned grants, fellowships, scholarships, research commitments and fund-release orders will continue through PFMS/TSA or any notified successor mechanism without interruption,” the Union Education Ministry told the committee. Published - July 13, 2026 09:36 pm IST
