NDA-Ruled States, Top Universities Push Back Against Centralisation Proposed Under VBSA Bill
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New Delhi: Several National Democratic Alliance-ruled states and leading universities in the country have raised strong objections to the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan (VBSA) Bill, 2025, warning a parliamentary panel of the potential concentration of excessive power over high education regulation in the centre's hands by the proposed legislation, reported The Hindu.
The bill seeks to overhaul India's higher education framework by dismantling the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) and replacing them with a single apex regulatory body called the VBSA. The legislation is currently under examination by a joint parliamentary committee chaired by Bharatiya Janata Party MP D. Purandeswari.
BJP allies among states who flagged overreach
According to The Hindu, one of the sharpest rebukes came from Andra Pradesh, governed by the Telugu Desam Party, a BJP ally, which told the panel that several provisions of the legislation could render the state's legislative authority over high education effectively meaningless. Specifically flagging clause 11 of the legislation, the state warned that it could let the regulatory council bypass state universities altogether in granting degrees, creating "constitutional friction." It also called for mandatory consultation with states before any central action impacting their universities.
Madhya Pradesh, also a BJP-ruled state, raised concerns over inadequate state representation in the proposed regulatory council.
Meghalaya's National People's Party-led government pitched a clear division of powers between the states and the centre. As per the TH report, it proposed leaving standards and accreditation with the centre while keeping governance, staffing and financing of universities under states' jurisdiction.
Telangana, which is ruled by Congress, went further and sought the outright deletion of clause 11 and argued that as the bill can potentially perpetuate fee escalation, reported The Hindu. Describing clause 45 of the bill as its "single most centralising" provision, the state's government said it hands the centre the final say in any dispute without corresponding state authorities over matters relating to their own universities.
Universities cite 'excessive centralisation'
Institutions including Banaras Hindu University, the Central University of Rajasthan, Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Chittoor and multiple state universities across Assam, Maharashtra and Jammu and Kashmir also condemned the bill's centralising clauses.
As per The Hindu, BHU told the committee that clause 45, which gives the centre binding authority over policy decisions, subordinates the regulator to the executive. It added that clause 47, which permits the centre to supersede or dissolve the VBSA, risks turning it into "an arm of the government of the day." Clause 47 empowers the centre to suspend the commission for up to six months, with a provision to extend the suspension by another six months.
IIIT Chittoor highlighted that a plausible implication of invoking clause 45 can be the expansion of the central government's influence over all three councils proposed under the bill, potentially "shaping institutional academic operations," reported The Hindu. Shreemati Nathibai Damodar Thackersey Women's University, Pune, noted that without adequate checks and balances and parliamentary oversight, the measures delineated under the bill can lead to "excessive centralisation."
Backlash from political leaders
According to The Hindu, members of the joint parliamentary committee like All-India Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Sagarika Ghose and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Sanjay Kumar Jha also criticised the immense amount of power vested to the centre under the bill.
Ghose called out the VBSA chairperson appointment process for lacking transparency and independence, while Jha said certain clauses – clauses 18, 20, 21, 45 and 47 – collectively attributed "full authority" over all councils to the centre. Ghose emphasised that the search committees for the chairperson appointment process was dominated by the centre's nominees and did not have sufficient representation from teaching communities, state governments, parliament and the judiciary.
Other members of the committee like Congress' Digvijay Singh went further, alleging "constitutional overreach" into subjects that fall under the State List under clause 4, which dictates the aims and purpose of the VBSA bill. Singh said the provisions concerning "powers of incorporation, regulation and winding up of institutes" allocated to the centre go beyond the ambit of the Union List.
Government defends the bill
Reacting to the widespread criticism, the Ministry of Education defended the contentious clauses as consistent with "most modern regulatory frameworks," adding that supersession powers are a standard emergency safeguard that would not be invoked arbitrarily, reported The Hindu.
It further claimed that it would preserve a "balanced system of accountability" that while retaining independence would allow for "limited intervention in extraordinary cases."
Citing precedents in existing UGC, AICTE and NCTE laws, the ministry justified similar framing in the new bill in response to concerns underlined by state governments and universities.
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