Bill to Set Up Single Higher Education Regulator Gets Cabinet Nod
Medical and law colleges will not be brought under its ambit. Funding, which is seen as the fourth vertical, is not proposed to be under the regulator so far. The autonomy for funding is proposed to be with the administrative ministry.
NEW DELHI: A Bill to set up a higher education regulator was approved by the Union Cabinet on Friday, officials said. The single higher education regulator was proposed in the new National Education Policy (NEP), looks to replace the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE).
Medical and law colleges will not be brought under its ambit. Funding, which is seen as the fourth vertical, is not proposed to be under the regulator so far. The autonomy for funding is proposed to be with the administrative ministry.
The proposed legislation, Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhikshan Bill, is proposed to have three major roles — regulation, accreditation and setting professional standards.
The Union Cabinet also approved the proposal for conducting Census of India 2027 at a cost of `11,718.24 crore. Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the Cabinet at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the proposal to conduct the Census which will be the first digital exercise of its kind and approved `11,718 crore to conduct it.
The Census would be conducted in two phases – house listing and housing census from April to September 2026 and Population Enumeration (PE) from February 2027. “For Ladakh and snow-bound non-synchronous areas of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the PE exercise shall be conducted in September, 2026,” Vaishnaw said, adding that the Census 2027 will also capture caste data electronically in the PE phase.
About 30 lakh field functionaries will complete this exercise, using a mobile app for data collection. The process involves visiting each and every household and canvassing separate questionnaires for House listing and Housing Census and Population Enumeration. The enumerators, generally government teachers and appointed by the State Governments, will be doing the field work of Census in addition to their regular duties.
Union home minister Amit Shah said the outcome of the Census 2027 would serve as the new compass for development, mirroring India's latest population data with more accuracy.
In a message posted on X, he said, “The precision in data will accelerate Modi Ji's vision of delivering the benefits of good governance and development to citizens of every demographic denomination, making the slogan of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' a grand reality of New India in the Amrit Kaal.”