The Draft Higher Education Bill, 2010: A Critical Review

Three years after the National Knowledge Commission submitted its report suggesting that there is a need to create an overarching regulator in higher education, the Ministry of Human Resource Development has finally come out with a draft Bill. This article reviews this Bill and finds that it seeks greater centralisation of power, essentially in the appointment of vice chancellors and on issues which traditionally should fall within the domain of universities. Although there is a need for a new regulatory system in place, this has to be more like a facilitator and as a catalyst in enabling universities to pursue teaching and research within an autonomous, and yet, accountable framework of self-governance.