University Grants Commission (India)
INTRODUCTION
The University Grants Commission of India (UGC
India) is a statutory body set up by the Department of
Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Government
of India in accordance to the UGC Act 1956 and is
charged with coordination, determination and
maintenance of standards of higher education. It
provides recognition to universities in India, and
disbursements of funds to such recognized universities and colleges. The
headquarters are in New Delhi, and it has six regional centres in Pune,
Bhopal, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Guwahati and Bangalore. A proposal to
replace it with another new regulatory body called HECI is under
consideration by the Government of India. The UGC provides doctoral
scholarships to all those who clear JRF in the National Eligibility Test.
On an average, each year ₹725 crore (US$95 million) is spent on
doctoral and post-doctoral fellowships by the commission.[5]
The full form of UGC is University Grants Committee. The
Department of Higher Education established it to supervise all the
colleges and universities in higher education in India. The
headquarters of UGC is in New Delhi, India. There are six regional
centres in Bangalore, Bhopal, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Pune.
The current chairman heading the UGC currently is D.P. Singh.
UGC Establishment - Journey So Far
The depiction of UGC we have today is the result of numerous
intense steps taken before and after the Indian Independence. Come,
let’s become a part of the establishment journey of the University
Grants Commission.
1. The first attempt to have an education system was made in the year
1944 with the Sargent Report. It was the Report of the Central Advisory
Board of Education on Post-War Educational Development in India.
2. Through the recommendation, the University Grants Committee was
formed in 1945, which took upon the responsibility of supervision of
three Central Universities of Aligarh, Banaras, and Delhi.
3. In the year 1947, the committee got the responsibility to control all the
universities of that era.
4. In 1948, the University Education Commission was set up, whose
chairman was Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. The commission suggested
that the existing University Grants Committee should be transformed
into University Grants Commission India like the UK.
5. On 28 December 1953, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (former Minister
of Education) inaugurated University Grants Commission.
6. And in November 1956, UGC (University Grants Commission) was
formally established as a statutory body of the Government of India via
‘University Grants Commission Act, 1956’ of the Parliament. The vision
was to supervise the coordination, determination, and maintenance of
standards of university education in our country.
7. Thereafter In 1994 and 1995, UGC introduced six centers at Pune,
Hyderabad, Kolkata, Bhopal, Guwahati, and Bangalore to control the
region-wise education system in India. Currently, the head office is
locating at Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg in New Delhi.
What are UGC Roles and Functions? Power &
Main Aims of UGC
The main aim & role of UGC in higher education is to provide funds to
universities and coordinate, determine & maintain the ethics in
institutions of higher education. The commission upholds the
interpretation among the universities, government, and the community.
UGC has also set some standards for the universities for being UGC
Approved Universities. With the growth of higher education in India,
many top, medium, and small universities are being established day by
day. Among these universities, there are many universities that are fake
and not fit as per the UGC standards.
Therefore, the University Grants Commission has released the list of
Fake Universities in India to help the students to recognize these rejected
universities.
Major UGC Activities and Functions of University
Grants Commission
Promote and coordinate university education.
Frame rules on minimum standards of education.
Setting standards for examination like ICAR NET, UGC
NET & CSIR UGC NET
Scrutinize growth in the field of college and university
education.
Allow grants to the universities and colleges.
Maintain the connection between the Union and State
Governments and institutions of higher education.
Suggest mandatory procedures to Central and State governments
to make positive changes in University Education.
Does UGC control all universities?
In 1952 the government decided that all grants to universities
and higher learning institutions should be handled by the
UGC. Subsequently, an inauguration was held on 28 December
1953 by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the Minister of Education,
Natural Resources and Scientific Research.
Types of universities
The types of universities regulated by the UGC include:
Central universities, or Union universities, are
established by an act of parliament and are under the
purview of the Department of Higher Education in the
Ministry of Education.[13] As of 31 March 2021, The list
of central universities published by the UGC includes 54
central universities.
State universities are run by the state government of
each of the states and territories of India and are usually
established by a local legislative assembly act. As of 31
March 2021, the UGC lists 443 state universities.[15] The
oldest establishment date listed by the UGC is 1857, shared
by the University of Mumbai, the University of Madras and
the University of Calcutta. Most State Universities are
affiliating universities in that they administer many
affiliated colleges (many located in very small towns) that
typically offer a range of undergraduate courses, but may
also offer post-graduate courses. More established colleges
may even offer PhD programs in some departments with
the approval of the affiliating university.
Deemed university, or "Deemed to be University", is a
status of autonomy granted by the Department of Higher
Education on the advice of the UGC, under Section 3 of the
UGC Act.[16] As of 6 October 2017, the UGC lists 123
deemed universities.[17] According to this list, the first
institute to be granted deemed university status was Indian
Institute of Science, which was granted this status on 12
May 1958. In many cases, the same listing by the UGC
covers several institutes. For example, the listing for Homi
Bhabha National Institute covers the Institute of
Mathematical Sciences, the Indira Gandhi Centre for
Atomic Research and other institutes.
Private universities are approved by the UGC. They can
grant degrees but they are not allowed to have off-campus
affiliated colleges. As of 6 October 2017, the UGC list of
private universities lists 282 universities.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) has also
released the list of 24 fake universities operating in India.
UGC has said that these 24 self-styled, unrecognized
institutions functioning in contravention of the UGC Act
have been declared as fake and are not entitled to confer
any degrees.
Future
In 2009, the Union Minister of Human Resource
Development, Kapil Sibal made known the government of
India's plans to consider the closing down of the UGC and
the related body All India Council for Technical Education
(AICTE), in favour of a higher regulatory body with more
sweeping powers.[24] This goal, proposed by the Higher
Education and Research (HE&R) Bill, 2011, intends to
replace the UGC with a National Commission for Higher
Education & Research (NCHER) "for determination,
coordination, maintenance and continued enhancement of
standards of higher education and research".[25] The bill
proposes absorbing the UGC and other academic agencies
into this new organisation. Those agencies involved in
medicine and law would be exempt from this merger "to set
minimum standards for medical and legal education leading
to professional practice".[26] The bill has received
opposition from the local governments of the Indian states
of Bihar, Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, but
has received general support.
