Operational Governance, Policy Misalignment, and Institutional Adaptability
The architectural integration of the Academic Bank of Credits functions as a vital instrument to facilitate learner autonomy and inter-institutional mobility across Indian higher education institutions ("National Education Policy 2020 and the Academic Bank of Credits System in the Context of Educational Development in India," 2023). Existing evaluations underline that the national reform framework prioritises multidisciplinary learning pathways, creative potential, and equitable access for historically marginalized populations regardless of geographic location ("India National Education Policy (NEP) 2020," 2020). Furthermore, institutional entities, including academic libraries and support centres, are posited as key catalysts for delivering infrastructural equity and multidisciplinary resources ("Libraries and National Education Policy (NEP 2020) of India in Higher Education," 2024). However, a critical synthesis of these scholarly positions reveals a significant gap: current discourse primarily evaluates structural mandates and theoretical mechanisms without investigating the operational frictions that emerge during cross-state credit transfer. While the Academic Bank of Credits establishes a digital repository to verify, store, and transfer academic credits across diverse programmes ("National Education Policy 2020 and the Academic Bank of Credits System in the Context of Educational Development in India," 2023), empirical literature fails to address how uneven state-level adoption, differing curriculum frameworks, and digital access disparities impact cross-regional mobility. This study operates under notable analytical limitations. The investigation relies upon descriptive policy evaluations and document analyses rather than longitudinal student-tracking datasets. Additionally, institutional variation across state universities limits the broad generalisability of administrative findings. Future scholarship must address these gaps by conducting inter-state empirical assessments to evaluate how institutional governance adapts to mutual credit recognition.