New Delhi, February 26 The joint committee of Parliament, set up to examine the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan (VBSA) Bill, received inputs from members on the legislation on Thursday and said it would address their concerns.
The Bill aims to establish a single higher education regulator.
The committee will receive suggestions on the Bill from all stakeholders, such as universities and higher education institutions, in future meetings.
"Today, we had the first meeting of the joint committee. The Bill was presented to the members so that they have a complete understanding of the Bill," D Purandeswari, chairperson of the committee, told reporters after the meeting.
She said that all parties, regardless of their political ideologies, were represented in the meeting and they contributed by expressing their views on the Bill.
"The committee will examine each of the concerns that have been raised or rather the inputs that have been given... to the committee and we will take all of them into consideration," Purandeswari said.
Sources said that some members from the opposition parties expressed their "opposition" to the Bill, saying that the legislation, if enacted, "would harm the federal structure" because "too much power has been given to the central government".
There are 31 members in the committee.
According to a Lok Sabha secretariat notification issued on February 10, the committee comprises members from both Houses of Parliament and will scrutinise the provisions of the proposed legislation before submitting its report.
The VBSA Bill, introduced during the Winter session, aims to overhaul the higher education regulatory framework in line with the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020. The proposed legislation aims to replace multiple existing regulators with a single overarching body and provide for the separation of accreditation, funding, and standard-setting functions.
The government had told the Lok Sabha its intent to send the Bill to a joint panel for wider consultations amid concerns raised by opposition parties over issues relating to federalism, institutional autonomy, and centralisation of powers.
The JPC is expected to invite suggestions from stakeholders, including state governments and academic bodies, before finalising its recommendations.
Those who are part of the committee are: Anurag Singh Thakur, Vivek Thakur, Bhartruhari Mahtab, Vamsi Krishna Gaddam, Tejasvi Surya, Sribharat Mathukumilli, Sudhanshu Trivedi, Pradip Kumar Varma, Meenakshi Jain, M Thambidurai, Sagarika Ghosh, Sambit Patra, Hemang Joshi, Sougata Ray, Indra Hang Subba, Digvijaya Singh, E T Mohammed Basheer, Sasmit Patra, Angomcha Bimol Akoijam, Bansuri Swaraj, Brijmohan Agrawal, Lalji Verma, Ram Gopal Yadav, Surendra Singh Nagar, Varsha Gaikwad, Alok Kumar Suman, Anil Desai, Sanjay Kumar Jha, T R Baalu, and Shrikant Shinde.
