Overview
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill (VBSA Bill) aims to merge the University Grants Commission, All India Council for Technical Education and National Council for Teacher Education into a single apex authority called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan. While the government says Clause 49 will protect the autonomy of Institutes of National Importance (INIs) and Institutes of Eminence, several INIs have asked for explicit exemption from the new regulatory framework.
Key Developments
- INIs including IITs, IIMs, IIITs and IISERs submitted memoranda to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) chaired by D. Purandeswari demanding exemption.
- States of Andhra Pradesh, Meghalaya and Madhya Pradesh also opposed centralising provisions, as reported on 10 July 2026.
- IIT Kanpur, IIT Hyderabad, IIM Sambalpur and IISER Mohali asked for total exemption; IIT Madras sought exclusion only from clauses on online‑programme approvals, new‑college openings and penalty provisions.
- Several institutes warned that the graded penalty system (up to ₹75 lakh and possible closure) could harm small, rural institutions like the Central Tribal University (CTU) of Andhra Pradesh.
- IIT Bombay questioned why law and medicine were left out of the Bill’s scope.
Important Facts
- The VBSA Bill pr