New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Friday approved a bill to establish a single higher education regulator, replacing multiple existing regulatory bodies.

The proposed regulator, to be known as Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhikshan, will subsume the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE).

At present, the UGC regulates non-technical higher education, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE is responsible for teacher education.

The new regulator will take over key functions of regulation, accreditation and the setting of professional standards across higher education institutions.

The legislation, earlier referred to as the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) Bill, has been renamed the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhikshan Bill.

As per the approved framework, the new body will not be responsible for funding, with financial autonomy proposed to remain with the concerned administrative ministries. Medical and law colleges will also remain outside the regulator’s purview.

The move follows the vision laid out in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which called for a comprehensive overhaul of the higher education regulatory system.

The policy stressed the need to clearly separate the functions of regulation, accreditation, funding and academic standard-setting, assigning them to independent and empowered bodies.

Efforts to operationalise the HECI framework were initiated after Dharmendra Pradhan assumed charge as Union Education Minister in July 2021.

The Cabinet’s approval marks a significant step towards implementing the NEP 2020’s proposed reforms in higher education governance.