RAS question
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill 2025 proposes to replace which regulatory bodies in higher education?
Correct answer: (C) UGC, AICTE, and NCTE.
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025 proposes to subsume UGC, AICTE and NCTE under the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan with three councils.
Explanation
The Bill is aimed at restructuring higher-education regulation by establishing the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan along with three councils. The official Lok Sabha answer says these councils would subsume the University Grants Commission, the All India Council for Technical Education and the National Council for Teacher Education. The restructuring therefore covers UGC, AICTE and NCTE, not a narrower pair of regulators. The Ministry of Education's Lok Sabha reply records that the Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 15 December 2025 and referred to the Joint Committee of both Houses of Parliament. The proposal represents the largest higher-education overhaul since the UGC Act, 1956.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) UGC and NCTE only omits AICTE, which the official Lok Sabha answer also says would be subsumed.
- (B) UGC and AICTE only omits NCTE, even though the official answer includes the National Council for Teacher Education among the bodies to be subsumed.
- (D) UGC, AICTE, NCTE and MCI adds MCI, but the official answer names only UGC, AICTE and NCTE.
Concept
Governance reform in higher education includes the replacement or restructuring of statutory regulators. RAS frequently covers education governance because it links constitutional administration, parliamentary procedure and institutional reform.