Teachers and students launch campaign against ‘pernicious’ bill and demand its immediate withdrawal
NEW DELHI — The academic community was up in arms against Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhikshak (VBSA), also referred to as the Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) Bill. They termed the bill a “direct and dangerous assault” on the country’s publicly funded higher education system.
The academic community, a broad coalition of teachers’ and students’ organisations on Monday demanded the immediate withdrawal of the bill, which was tabled in Parliament earlier in the day.
The demand was raised at a press conference organised under the aegis of the Coordination Committee Against HECI/VBSA and the Joint Forum for Movement on Education (JFME), a national platform representing teachers’ associations from Central and state universities across the country.
Addressing the media at the Press Club of India here, Members of Parliament Comrade Rajaram (CPI-ML), Comrade V Sivadasan (CPI-M) and Prof Manoj Jha (RJD) said the Bill had triggered strong opposition from across the Opposition benches in Parliament. They informed that due to sustained and vociferous objections by MPs from multiple parties, the government was compelled to refer the bill to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education for detailed examination.
Opposition MPs warned that the referral should not be treated as a procedural formality and asserted that the bill, in its present form, must be withdrawn rather than cosmetically amended. “This legislation strikes at the federal character of education and seeks to centralise power in an unaccountable regulatory authority,” speakers said, adding that it undermines the constitutional mandate of education as a public good.
The press conference saw participation from a wide spectrum of academic and student organisations, reflecting growing unrest within university campuses. Representatives from the Ambedkar University Delhi Faculty Association (AUDFA), Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU), All India Federation of Right to Education (AIFRTE), All India Students’ Education Council (AISEC), and several national teachers’ and students’ organisations—including the Confederation of Teachers’ Federations (CTF), Delhi Teachers’ Federation (DTF), Delhi Teachers’ Initiative (DTI), Shiksha Shramik Manch (SSM), All India Democratic Students’ Organisation (AIDSO) and All India Students’ Association (AISA)—spoke at the conference. A joint statement issued by the President and Secretary of the Federation of Central Universities Teachers’ Associations (FEDCUTA) was also presented.
Speakers unanimously argued that the VBSA/HECI Bill represents a decisive shift away from publicly accountable, democratically governed universities towards a centralised, corporate-friendly regulatory regime. They said the bill must be viewed as an extension of the National Education Policy (NEP), which, according to them, has already weakened public higher education through funding cuts, contractualisation of faculty, erosion of institutional autonomy and increased reliance on market-driven models.
Serious concern was expressed over provisions that would enable excessive central control over curriculum design, accreditation and institutional functioning, while simultaneously diluting the role of elected academic bodies. Teachers’ representatives warned that such changes would reduce universities to “degree-dispensing centres” driven by rankings, profit and Hindutva influenced ideological conformity rather than critical inquiry and social responsibility.
The speakers further cautioned that the bill would legitimise and accelerate the processes of privatisation, commercialisation and communalisation of higher education. They argued that increased fee structures, shrinking public institutions and the withdrawal of state responsibility would disproportionately affect students from Dalit, Adivasi, OBC, minority and economically marginalised backgrounds, effectively excluding large sections of the population from higher education.
Student leaders highlighted that the proposed framework threatens diversity and democratic spaces on campuses, making universities more vulnerable to ideological interference and administrative coercion. “At a time when youth unemployment is at record levels, dismantling public higher education will deepen social inequality and unrest,” a JNUSU representative said.
The Joint Forum for Movement on Education announced that it would intensify its nationwide campaign against the VBSA/HECI Bill through academic discussions, public meetings, campus mobilisations and coordination with parliamentary and civil society platforms. The forum reiterated that education cannot be treated as a commodity and must remain a constitutionally guaranteed public service.
The press conference was chaired by Nandita Narain, Chairperson of the Joint Forum for Movement on Education and former president of the Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) and FEDCUTA.
