An umbrella body of over 40 people’s science organisations has described a recently introduced Bill to set up a new regulatory architecture in higher studies as a step towards centralisation of education in India.

The All-India People’s Science Network (AIPSN) has written to the joint parliamentary committee expressing concern about the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhisthan (VBSA) Bill.

The University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) are the regulatory agencies for higher, technical, and teacher education, respectively. The proposed VBSA will subsume the UGC, AICTE and the NCTE.

Dinesh Abrol, chief scientist (retd), CSIR-NISTADS, which is part of the AIPSN, said the VBSA was introduced because the Centre wanted to withdraw from its obligation to promote education as a publicly funded enterprise for the common good and move towards treating higher education as a commodity to be bought and sold.

“We have sent our concerns to the JPC on the VBSA Bill. We have asked for a meeting with the committee to explain our concerns,” Abrol said.