To be sure, all other NDA allies stand together on the draft regulations.
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JD(U) national spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan Prasad told ThePrint, “We have not read the entire draft regulation, but whatever is being reported so far, our major concern is about the role of the elected state government being limited in this draft.”
“It will interfere with the state government’s vision of higher education. We certainly want an amendment in the draft to protect the state government’s role in the selection of vice-chancellors,” he added.
The UGC (Minimum Qualifications for Appointment & Promotion of Teachers and Academic Staff in Universities and Colleges and Measures for the Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education) Regulations, 2025, would replace the 2018 guidelines. They have been updated in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The draft rules, released on 6 January by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, empowers chancellors to constitute the three-member search and selection committee to appoint vice chancellors for state universities.
Opposition-led states have come out against the draft rules. While Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chief M.K. Stalin wrote a letter to the Centre in opposition to the draft regulation, the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Kerala government passed a resolution in the state assembly to protest the move.
Also Read: UGC draft norms for recruiting V-Cs: Political implications & why there’s resistance from academia
Other NDA allies
This is not the first time JD(U) is breaking ranks with an ally. The party also raised concerns over the NDA’s plan for lateral entry into top bureaucracy, saying it opposed the plan without reservation. Furthermore, its concerns over the Waqf Amendment Bill played a key role in it being sent to a parliamentary select committee for wider consultation.
According to party sources in the state unit, the JD(U)’s skepticism over the draft regulation is particularly pronounced in light of BJP’s perceived attempts to dent the party ahead of the 2020 Bihar Assembly elections. BJP’s assertions over the CM’s post in Maharashtra has further put the JD(U) on guard. This is also why NDA allies who are not facing a direct threat to their interests are in sync with the Centre’s move.
Earlier, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas)’s Chirag Paswan and Jitan Ram Manjhi of Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) objected to the Centre’s lateral entry scheme, which it later withdrew. Similarly, skepticism from both JD(U) and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the other major NDA ally, forced the Centre to send the Waqf bill for wider scrutiny.
In this case, however, LJP (Ram Vilas) spokesperson Prof Vineet Singh told ThePrint, “LJP did not find any anomaly in draft regulation as in Kerala case.”
Citing the 2023 case, where the Supreme Court reaffirmed the chancellor’s role in the appointment of vice chancellors, he said, “the party will support Centre’s draft regulation.”
The LJP (Ram Vilas) did not see it as a curtailment of state power in the selection process, he added.
Similarly, the TDP spokesperson, Prof Jyotsana Tirunagari, said, “The TDP sees this draft regulation as balanced since the selection of vice chancellor has nothing to do with politics or which party is ruling the state.”
“It’s an administrative process. The new changes will not in any way infringe on the state’s role in the selection process of V-C.”
Another TDP leader, on condition of anonymity, said, “As our coordination with the central government is very smooth and the party doesn’t anticipate any confrontation with the governor of the state university in Andhra Pradesh.
In Maharashtra, Lok Sabha MP from Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde), Naresh Ganpat said nothing will change because of this new rule. “Only ambiguity has been cleared in the draft and Opposition states are opposing due to their political reasons.”
HAM, which criticised the BJP for not giving it a single seat in the Delhi Assembly elections, also supported the Centre on the draft UGC regulation.
Danish Rizwan, its spokesperson, told ThePrint, “The state government has not been successful in reforming school education, as is the case with higher education.”
“During Lalu Prasad’s time, students took more than five years for an Honours degree, so the university needs reform. Over the period, the role of the vice-chancellor has also changed and it has become more administrative so it should be left to UGC and the chancellor to select the best person to run the university.”
“We support the Centre’s draft to bring diversity in the selection process,” Rizwan added.
Oppn-ruled states oppose rules
On Monday, Tamil Nadu CM Stalin wrote to Union Edi Minister Pradhan, calling for the draft regulations to be withdrawn.
Stalin also wrote to his counterparts in the Opposition-ruled states, including the chief ministers of Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Telangana, Punjab, West Bengal, and Kerala, urging them to adopt a resolution in their respective states against the draft UGC regulations. In his letter to the education minister, Stalin charged, “Such provisions in the draft regulations may pose serious challenges to the academic integrity, autonomy, and inclusive development of State universities.”
“We, therefore, request that the Ministry of Education withdraw the draft Bills under discussion and review these concerns to better align with the needs of the diverse higher education landscape in India.”
Stalin objected to provisions, including those over the appointment of non-academicians as vice-chancellors, exclusion of the state government from the vice-chancellor search committee, and cross-disciplinary teachers.
On Tuesday, the Kerala Assembly passed a resolution for the immediate withdrawal of the draft UGC regulation. The resolution says that “the power to establish and supervise universities rests with the state governments, as per the Constitution’s Seventh Schedule”.
Referring to the 42nd Constitutional Amendment of 1977, which moved education, including higher education, to the Concurrent List—issues both the central and state governments can legislate on—the resolution also emphasises that the Central government’s role should be limited to coordinating and setting standards for higher education.
It said that such guidelines undermine the democratic functioning of universities and give undue influence to central authorities, thereby sidelining the role of states, which contribute around 80 percent of the funding for higher education institutions.
Even Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah opposed the draft regulations.
Under the new rules, a nominee of the visitor or chancellor will be the chairperson of the search-cum-selection committee for vice chancellors, which will also include a UGC nominee and a nominee of the apex body of the university.
Currently, states recommend the chancellor’s nominee for this committee, but in many states the governors have changed this norm and started nominating people to the committee, leading to conflicts with state governments.
States also opposed the fact that the new rules open the door for industry experts and public sector veterans from non-academic backgrounds to be appointed to the role. This they said would be akin to the privatisation of the state universities.
Pradhan said the guidelines would infuse innovation, inclusivity, flexibility and dynamism in every aspect of higher education, empower teachers and academic staff, strengthen academic standards and pave the way for achieving educational excellence.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
Also Read: How UGC’s new rating system for higher institutions sets stage for flashpoint with non-NDA states
