HECI bill 2025: Pros, cons, and future of higher education

Video Description

The Central government on Monday (December 15, 2025) proposed that the new Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan (VBSA) Bill, 2025, which seeks to overhaul India’s higher education regulatory framework by replacing the University Grants Commission (UGC), be sent to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) with members from both Houses, moments after it was introduced amid objections from Opposition parties. Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday (December 15, 2025) afternoon tabled the Bill even as MPs from across Opposition parties opposed it, arguing that the Bill represented “executive overreach”, subjected higher educational institutes to “pervasive executive control, graded autonomy, intrusive compliance requirements, severe penalties, and closure powers”, and went against the principles of federalism. The Bill provides for the establishment of a 12-member VBSA umbrella commission as a regulatory body, under which the regulatory, accreditation, and standards councils will function. It notably divorces the UGC’s grants-disbursal power from the regulatory body, handing this funding power over to “mechanisms devised by the Ministry of Education”. The final shape of the VBSA Bill will determine whether India moves towards a more enabling, differentiated, and globally competitive higher education system—or risks undermining its strongest institutions in the pursuit of uniform regulation. To delve deeper into this topic, The Hindu will host a webinar titled, ‘HECI bill 2025: Pros, cons, and future of higher education’, on December 20, at 5:00 p.m. The panellists include: Prof. N Siva Prasad, Former Professor, IIT Madras; Arun Kumar, Former Professor, JNU; Abhinay Lakshman, Principal Correspondent, The Hindu. The webinar will be moderated by M. Kalyanaraman, who heads the Education Vertical at The Hindu. Register now for free to ask questions and interact with the panellists. The three best questions will receive a free online subscription to The Hindu. Panellists Prof. N Siva Prasad, Former Professor, IIT Madras Prof. N Siva Prasad obtained B.E. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Mysore in 1975, M. Tech and Ph.D. from IIT Madras in 1977 and 1984, respectively. He held many responsible administrative positions at IIT Madras, the last one being Registrar, IIT Madras. He has completed about 52 developmental projects for organisations such as BHEL, ISRO, and BEL, which have led to the indigenous development of components in critical applications. He has adapted textbooks on Machine Design, Mechanics of Materials, and Engineering Mechanics (Statics and Dynamics) published by Tata McGraw-Hill Book Company. Arun Kumar, Former Professor, JNU Arun Kumar, joined JNU in 1984 and retired as the Sukhamoy Chakravarty ChairProfessor in the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, Jawaharlal Nehru University in2015. He was the Chairperson of a Commission on Unemployment set up by Civil SocietyGroups and its Report was released in October, 2022. Prior to this, he was the MalcolmAdiseshiah Chair Professor in the Institute of Social Sciences from 2017 to 2022. He was amember of the team to study the black economy for CBDT (1982-85). Abhinay Lakshman, Principal Correspondent, The Hindu Abhinay Lakshman is a Principal Correspondent covering domains of Social Justice, Tribal Affairs, and Education. (For any feedback or suggestions, reach out to us at [email protected])