India, Dec. 30 -- India's higher education system is at a decisive juncture where long-articulated policy vision is now confronting the realities of governance and institutional capacity. The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 laid out an ambitious roadmap to transform learning, research, and academic culture. The introduction of the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, currently under examination by a Joint Parliamentary Committee, represents a decisive step towards aligning that vision with a coherent regulatory framework.

For decades, higher education governance in India has been shaped by regulatory multiplicity. Overlapping authorities, fragmented mandates, and compliance-driven oversight have constrained universities' abi...