The University Grants Commission (UGC) Draft Regulations 2025, released on Monday for public feedback, on appointment of Vice-chancellors and faculty in universities and colleges, aim to drastically change the country’s higher education system and bring it under the control of the Central government.
Appointment of Vice-Chancellors & Faculty
The clauses provide chancellors the final say when choosing vice-chancellors at public universities. There will be no state government representatives on the search committee. Vice-chancellors will effectively be appointed by the Central government since the governor of a state, who is an appointee of the Central government, serves as the chancellor of the universities in that state.
According to the regulations, employment as a vice-chancellor does not require a PhD or a specific amount of years of teaching experience. Anyone with experience in business, administration, or other domains may be nominated to that role. Changes to the current procedures for faculty member appointments and promotions are also suggested. If the rules are put into effect, state governments will no longer have any say in who gets appointed as vice-chancellors. That would be an attempt to exert control over a crucial industry and a breach of federal principles. Additionally, it would be against the Constitution’s intent. The Union government has been tasked with “coordination and determination of standards in institutions for higher education or research and scientific and technical institutions” since Entry 66 was added to the Union List. This does not imply that the Center has the authority to supersede state authority. It is not appropriate to overreach in establishing norms, standards, and activity coordination in order to deny the states their rightful place in education.
State legislatures enact laws to create universities. State governments provide the funding for them. Even though education is listed in the Constitution’s Concurrent List, the UGC is not authorized to oversee or regulate how universities operate. In the majority of non-BJP-ruled states, such as Kerala, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, the appointment of vice-chancellors is a controversial topic. Because of the disputes and issues, they have caused as chancellors, some state governments have attempted to remove the governors from office. The governors are receiving that authority from the UGC in an absolute manner. University instructors and state administrations have fiercely fought the rules. By altering the curriculum, for example, the central government is attempting to exert control over education. The Central government’s UGC action aims to increase political and administrative authority over universities and the higher education industry as a whole. Universities, states, and others will fiercely oppose it.
Aim To Drastically Change Higher Education
The process of restructuring higher education institutions is still ongoing more than three and a half years after the government declared it will introduce a new National Education Policy (NEP), 2020. The difficulty lies in eliminating lingering deficiencies and empowering academic institutions to meet the needs of the contemporary knowledge economy. The UGC, which oversees higher education, must not only establish guidelines but also serve as a facilitator in order to meet these demands. The agency has already come under fire for its propensity to overregulate.
Only a small shift in the regulator’s strategy is shown by the draft UGC (Minimum Qualifications for Appointment and Promotion of Teachers and Academic Staff in Universities and Colleges) Regulations 2025.
Strict regulations that required undergraduate and graduate degrees in order to teach a subject have been loosened. This hiring flexibility supports the NEP’s mission to dismantle disciplinary silos. The clauses that permit public administrators and senior industry professionals to seek for a VC position are equally important. In order to recruit varied talent and avoid keeping talented individuals insecure and subservient to their employers, it is hoped that the cap on contract positions would be lifted. However, the draft rules represent a regrettable shift from the NEP’s emphasis on institutional autonomy by enhancing the role of state governors in selecting university heads. Even worse, they serve as a reminder that the sarkar—in this case, the Center—is the ultimate arbitrator.
