VBSA Bill: Parliamentary committee seeks more time to finalise draft report

VBSA Bill: The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan (VBSA) Bill 2025 has sought more time to finalise the draft report. Earlier, the JPC also cancelled the meeting on VBSA without any reason or a new date.

The parliamentary committee was scheduled to adopt the VBSA draft report on the first day of the monsoon session of Parliament, July 20. However, the meeting to adopt the draft report was scheduled for July 17.

After a heated debate in parliament, VBSA was referred to a 31-member committee.

The JPC meeting was cancelled after students and the general public protested against the exam paper leaks across the country, especially NEET UG 2026, with Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) leading the protest and demanding the resignation of former education minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

VBSA Bill draft

Careers360 had reported earlier that in the draft, JPC backs the government on some key provisions such as keeping funding decisions outside the new higher education commission's control and keeping Institutes of National Importance (INI) and Institutions of Eminence (IoE) within it.

JPC observed that the VBSA Bill may lead to the 'concentration of extensive regulatory powers' in a single central regulator, which may compromise institutional autonomy. Furthermore, the draft shared with the panel members also noted that the bill's proposed 'graded penalty structure' cannot be imposed arbitrarily.

VBSA Bill was introduced in December 2025 and proposes an overhaul of the higher-education sector by dissolving the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) to form a single regulatory commission. The new bill is a revision of the previous draft, the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) Bill.