With the ambitious goal of Viksit Bharat by 2047, India stands at a critical juncture as it enters an era of unprecedented transformation. It is not merely technological progress or economic growth that will help achieve this vision, but also the quality of its education system, especially higher education. Higher education creates engineers, teachers, doctors, civil servants, scientists, entrepreneurs, innovators, researchers and more. Besides, it produces knowledge, technology, public policy and economic growth. Hence, universities and higher education institutions do not merely confer degrees; they cultivate knowledge, nurture talent, advance research and contribute to nation-building.
The Imperative for Reform
Today, the global economy is driven by innovation, knowledge and research. Nations that invest in high-quality universities are better positioned to achieve technological leadership and sustainable economic growth. Rapid changes in digital technology, artificial intelligence and automation are compelling higher education institutions to prepare students for jobs that may not even exist today. Competition among universities is no longer within a nation, but it has become global. Students are comparing institutions across the globe, faculties are collaborating beyond borders and research has become international.
Ranking paves the way for reputation, which is why quality assurance plays a pivotal role. This scenario automatically calls for improvement in higher education; therefore, reforms become not only desirable, but a cry of the hour. The real questionis not whether higher education should be reformed – it undoubtedly should – but whether the proposed reforms are capable of preparing India for the future.
The Proposed Reform Framework
Against this backdrop of evolving national priorities and global developments, the Government of India has proposed the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, which seeks to establish a new framework for the governance and regulation of higher education. The proposed legislation seeks to replace University Grants Commission (UGC), All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) with a unified statutory framework intended to simplify regulation, enhance quality assurance and streamline higher education governance.
The Bill has generated considerable discussion among policymakers, State Governments, universities and educationists. While there is broad agreement that higher education requires reform, the central question is whether the proposed framework adequately reflects the constitutional, academic and governance principles necessary for a diverse and dynamic higher education system.
Guiding Principles for Meaningful Higher Education Reform
India’s higher education system undoubtedly requires reform. The more important question, however, is what principles should guide that reform. How can we improve educational quality while remaining faithful to the Constitution, respecting institutional diversity and upholding the spirit of cooperative federalism?
Every generation must rethink its institutions in light of changing national aspirations. As India advances towards the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047, reforming higher education has emerged not merely as an administrative necessity but as a national priority. The following principles can help ensure that reform is meaningful, sustainable and future-ready:
- Constitutional Governance: Education is included in Entry 25 of the Concurrent List (List III) of the Constitution of India, making it a shared legislative responsibility of both the Union and State Governments. Any new regulatory framework should reflect the spirit of cooperative federalism, recognising the constitutional role of both levels of government while preserving the academic and administrative autonomy of universities and other higher education institutions. The objective should not be to choose between national coordination and State participation, but to harmonise both in the spirit of cooperative federalism.Educational excellence and cooperative federalism are complementary rather than competing objectives.
- Institutional Autonomy:Institutions must have academic and research freedom and administrative facilities with reasonable accountability. Autonomy doesn’t mean absence of accountability, but it refers to responsible autonomy. UNESCO’s 1997 Recommendation defines institutional autonomy as ‘the degree of self-governance necessary for effective decision making’ and describes it as ‘the institutional form of academic freedom’. Responsible autonomy is the foundation of academic excellence.
- Independent Quality Assurance: Public confidence in higher education depends upon credible quality assurance. Students, parents, employers and society must have confidence that academic standards are assessed through transparent, objective and professionally sound processes. Bringing regulation, standard-setting and accreditation within a single statutory framework may improve administrative efficiency, but it also makes independent quality assurance, external peer review and transparent evaluation even more important. Appropriate safeguards help avoid actual or perceived conflicts of interest while strengthening public trust. Quality assurance earns public trust only when it is independent, transparent and professionally credible.
- Student-Centred Reforms: The purpose of higher education regulation is not to create more regulatory processes but to improve the educational experience of students. Students are at the centre of education, but unfortunately, they are generally neglected during policy debates. Therefore, only those reforms can be fruitful and long-lasting that add value to students’ holistic growth. NEP 2020 emphasises critical thinking, effective communication, problem-solving and application of knowledge. A new reform must be capable of fulfilling these criteria. If the learner succeeds, the regulator succeeds.
- Institutional Diversity and Flexibility: India is widely known for its diversity and India’s higher education is not one uniform system instead, it is an ecosystem. India’s higher education diversity is reflected at three levels:
- institutional diversity,
- linguistic and cultural diversity, and
- learner diversity.
A university in the Himalayan region may focus on mountain ecology, while a coastal university may excel in marine sciences. With 22 Scheduled Languages and hundreds of regional languages, a considerable number of universities teach Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Urdu, Punjabi, Marathi, Bengali, Sanskrit and many more. A higher education policy should acknowledge and encourage multilingual scholarship. India’s higher education system also includes institutions, which are established by religious or linguistic minorities whose right to establish and administer educational institutions is protected under Article 30 of the Constitution of India. So, a modern regulatory framework must maintain quality and accountability while respecting these constitutional protections. Uniform standards should promote quality without eroding institutional diversity.
The Way Forward
Higher education is a shared constitutional responsibility of both the Union and States. Therefore, reforms should strengthen cooperative federalism by ensuring meaningful participation of State Governments in policy formulation, implementation and periodic review. At the same time, quality assurance must remain independent, transparent and professionally credible through external peer review, regular accreditation reviews and public disclosure of evaluation outcomes. Equally important is merit-based institutional leadership. Transparent appointment processes, clearly defined eligibility criteria, independent selection committees and security of tenure are essential to strengthen institutional credibility and public trust.
Finally, consultation should not end with the passage of a law. It must continue throughout the policy cycle, engaging States, universities, teachers, students, researchers, industry, civil society and other stakeholders. Sustainable reforms are built on dialogue, evidence and consensus rather than assumptions.
Only such an inclusive and balanced approach can strengthen the constitutional, academic and institutional foundations upon which India’s knowledge economy and the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047 can ultimately rest.
Ultimately, higher education reform should not merely redesign regulatory institutions; it should strengthen the constitutional, academic and institutional foundations upon which India’s knowledge economy will be built.
[The writer is Coordinator and Researcher, MarkaziTaleemi Board, New Delhi.Email: zafarmtb@gmail.com]