Critical Overview of the Higher Education and Research Bill, 2010

The Ministry of Human Resource Development (“MHRD”) has initiated a number of reforms in the education sector, more particularly in the field of higher education. The Higher Education and Research Bill, 2010 (“HER Bill”) is one of the most important initiatives of the MHRD to regularize and streamline the existing regulatory regime in the higher education sector. One of the most salient features of the Bill is that pursuant to its enactment, it shall put an end to the over-lapping powers of the University Grants Commission (“UGC”) and the All India Council for Technical Education (“AICTE”). Consequently, all doubts in relation to the authority regulating a university have been adequately addressed under the HER Bill. The National Commission of Higher Education and Research (“NCHER”) shall unify and subsume the powers of all these regulatory bodies and function as a single, all-encompassing higher education regulatory authority. However, the HER Bill in its present form raises few concerns for the private players and the industry and therefore require immediate attention of the policy makers.

Critical Overview of the Higher Education and Research Bill, 2010 barandbench.com Mon, Nov 15, 2010