As we can see there are lot of drawbacks in UGC Act, 1956 and Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) is still a paper note, hence it is necessary to make some changes either in existing legislation or shall be incorporated in new law, if any passed by the Parliament of India in near future. Here are some section-wise suggestions.
33.1 Section 1: Scope and Application
The new Act must move beyond the 1956 focus on basic standardization to prioritize global excellence and innovation. The application of the Act explicitly include modern educational formats such as purely digital universities, skill-based clusters, and international branch campuses. This ensures the regulatory framework remains relevant in the 21st-century global knowledge economy rather than being tethered to outdated colonial-era administrative frameworks.
33.2 Section 2: Comprehensive Definitions
To prevent regulatory creep and frequent litigation, key terms must be precisely defined.
Standard: This should be defined as measurable academic benchmarks including curriculum relevance, research impact, and student learning outcomes, rather than just physical infrastructure like library books or lab square footage.
Degree: The definition must be updated with the previous approval of the Central Government to include interdisciplinary and modern nomenclatures, such as B. Tech in AI or Master’s in Sustainability, without the current multi-year notification lag.
National Purposes: This term requires a strict statutory definition to prevent the government from interpreting any academic decision as a national purpose to force compliance. The goals enshrined under Preamble of the Constitution shall be part of national purposes along-with equal opportunities to get admission not based on personal identity such as caste, religion, etc. but based completely upon merit and acumen of the student.
Inability to Discharge Functions: To protect the independence of the Chairperson, this must be defined by clear medical or legal standards rather than being left to subjective executive interpretation.
33.3 Section 3: Unified Institutional Status
The binary system of University versus Deemed to be University should be abolished in favor of a single University category. The new provision should eliminate the deeming fiction that currently bypasses state rights and creates confusion for international partners. Furthermore, a clear exit clause or de-notification protocol must be incorporated to provide legal certainty for private investors and institutions.
33.4 Section 5: Merit-Based Composition
The composition of the HECI should reflect modern economic and academic priorities. It is suggested that the category-based representation be expanded to include experts in Information Technology, Biotechnology, and Artificial Intelligence. To ensure independence from political will, the educationists of repute should be selected based on a statutory yardstick of academic distinctions rather than subjective political alignment.
33.5 Section 6: Independent Tenure and Succession
To prevent the lame duck periods caused by the current resignation protocols, the new Act should include a deemed acceptance clause for resignations after a fixed 30-day period. The succession plan should be autonomous and board-led, ensuring that the Vice-Chairman can act as Chairman without the current potential for backdoor government influence during casual vacancies.
33.6 Section 7: Digital-First Procedural Rules
The requirement for physical, centralized meetings in a specific place should be replaced with explicit provisions for virtual meetings and circular resolutions. This removes the colonial Blue Book Legacy and the Delhi-centric bias, allowing experts from remote or rural parts of India to participate effectively in policy-making.
33.7 Section 12: Separation of Funding and Regulation
The HECI should separate the functions of funding and regulation to ensure that financial leverage is not used to stifle academic innovation. Funding should be project-based and outcome-linked, moving away from the resource starvation caused by the current multi-layered bureaucratic inquiry into financial needs.
33.8 Section 13: Data-Driven Monitoring
The Inspector Raj model of physical site visits should be replaced by AI-driven data monitoring and graded autonomy. This would eliminate the 12 to 24-month delays currently associated with forming expert committees and finalizing compliance reports.
33.9 Section 24: Proportional and Deterrent Penalties
The current 1,000-rupee fine for degree fraud is irrelevant and must be replaced with substantial financial penalties indexed to the scale of the fraud. The new provision should include the power to seize property and a mandatory compensation clause for victimized students, ensuring that the management is penalized rather than the students’ academic progress.
33.10 Section 25: Autonomous Rule-Making
To ensure Minimum Government, Maximum Governance, the HECI should have the autonomy to define its own internal administrative rules, such as staff recruitment and pay structures, without being stuck in inter-ministerial government approval loops. This would allow the body to act as an independent academic mentor rather than a subordinate limb of the state.
Thus government can make the statutory body dedicated to higher education which shall work free of political influence and shall work in its full capacity for merit of this nation.
