Assam Passes Six Key Education Bills After Opposition Walkout, Stirring Debate on Legislative Process

The Assam Assembly on November 29 approved six major education-related bills in a session marked by intense disagreement and an eventual walkout by opposition parties. The passage of these bills signals a significant restructuring of the state’s school and higher-education framework, although the manner of approval has ignited political controversy.

The House passed four crucial amendment bills — including the Assam Non-governmental Educational Institutions (Regulation of Fees) (Amendment) Bill, 2025 and the Assam Education (Provincialisation of Teachers and Re-organisation of Educational Institutions) (Amendment) Bill, 2025 — both central to the state’s ongoing effort to regulate private school fees and streamline the provincialisation process. Two other amendments, relating to the transfer and posting of teachers and formalising the services of non-teaching staff in venture institutions, were also cleared.

Education Minister Ranoj Pegu, who introduced all four bills, engaged in more than four hours of debate with members of the Congress, CPI(M), and Independent MLA Akhil Gogoi. Opposition leaders argued that none of their proposed amendments were entertained and demanded voting on each bill. Leader of Opposition Debabrata Saikia maintained that the amendments carried long-term administrative implications and required deeper legislative scrutiny.

However, with the government refusing to initiate voting, opposition members staged a walkout in protest, allowing the treasury benches to pass the bills unchallenged.

Two additional university bills — the Azim Premji University Bill, 2025 and the North Eastern Regional Institute of Management (NERIM) University Bill, 2025 — were passed through voice vote. Both bills aim at strengthening higher-education offerings in Assam, formalising the status of institutions that have been seeking statutory backing for expansion and academic autonomy.

Minister Pegu later took to social media to defend the government’s approach, stating that the reforms were essential to “reorganise institutions, rationalise fee structures and improve service conditions for both teaching and non-teaching staff.” He added that these measures complement earlier initiatives such as the Rabindranath Tagore University (Amendment) Bill, 2025 and the Su-Ka-Pha University Bill, 2025.

Opposition parties, however, accused the government of rushing crucial legislation without allowing space for proper deliberation. They argued that the amendments affect thousands of teachers, non-teaching staff, and private educational institutions and should have undergone a clause-by-clause examination.

With the approval of the six bills, the Assam government has advanced a wide-ranging set of reforms that touch nearly every level of the education system — from fee regulation in private schools to the functioning of public universities. The opposition has announced that it will pursue the issue further in upcoming sessions, keeping the debate around legislative transparency and consultation alive.