The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan (VBSA) Bill, 2025 held hearings on April 1, 2026, inviting domain experts and representatives of universities to present their views. The Bill, introduced by Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in the Lok Sabha on December 15, 2025, proposes sweeping changes to India's higher education regulatory framework.\n\nThe VBSA Bill seeks to establish a new apex regulatory body — the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan (Commission) — to replace three existing bodies: the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE). The Commission will have three councils: a Regulatory Council (common regulator for higher education), an Accreditation Council (overseeing accreditation), and a Standards Council (determining academic standards).\n\nProponents argue that merging these regulators will eliminate overlapping jurisdictions, reduce compliance burden on institutions, and create a unified, efficient regulatory architecture aligned with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. Critics, including faculty unions and some experts, have raised concerns about centralisation of regulatory power, potential undermining of institutional autonomy, and inadequate representation of state governments and minority institutions.\n\nThe JPC, after hearing stakeholders, is expected to submit its report to Parliament before the monsoon session. The bill is significant for RAS aspirants as it relates to cooperative federalism, education as a concurrent subject under Schedule VII of the Constitution, and the ongoing national debate on reforming higher education governance under the NEP 2020 framework.