University Grants Commission

Higher education has always held a prominent place in the history of India. From the ancient times, universities like Nalanda, Vikramsila, Taxila have been the popular seats of learning. Presently India has a large system of higher education attracting students from all over the world. This system of higher education can be dated back to 1823 with Mountstuart Elphinstone’s minutes which focused on the requirements to establish schools in order to teach English and European Science. Sir Charles Wood’s Dispatch in the year 1854 recommended proper educational scheme starting from primary school to university. As a result many universities came up in India.

The Inter-University Board was created in the year 1925 for promoting the university activities. Later on in 1944, the Sargeant Report recommended the establishment of University Grants Committee which was then formed in the year 1945. Previously while the body looked after the work of 3 Central Universities, in 1947 it was assigned the responsibility of looking after all the universities existing at that time. The University Education Commission was established in 1948. The body recommended the reconstitution of the University Grants Committee following the model of University Grants Commission of UK where the chairman and the other members of the body would be appointed from the reputed educationists.

On 28th December 1953, the University Grants Commission (UGC) was inaugurated by Shri Abul Kalam Azad. However, the body was officially created on 1956 under The Act of Parliament as a Government Body. It was entrusted with the task of coordinating, determining and maintaining the standard of education in universities of India. The UGC has 6 regional centres at Pune, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Guwahati, Bhopal and Bangalore. The UGC head office is at Baahdur Shah Zafar Marg in Delhi. The body also has two operating bureaus loacated in Delhi only.

University Grants Commission is the only body in India which grants aid and funds. Some of the mandates of the Commission include

• Maintaining and deciding the standard of teaching, research and education in various Indian Universities.
• Promoting university education
• Framing rules and regulations on the standard of education
• Monitoring the educational developments in the universities and granting aids to the colleges and universities
• It serves as a link between the state government, the union and the educational institutions.

Some of the present members of UGC are

• Prof. S.K. Thorat, the Chairman
• Prof. Ved Prakash, the Vice- Chairman
• Ms. Vibha Puri Das, Secretary
• Mrs. Vilasini Ramachandran, Additional Secretary, Department of Expenditure
• Dr. Shivajirao Shripatrao Kadam, Vice Chancellor

The different regional offices of the University Grants Commission are listed below.

• Southern Eastern Rgional Office (SERO)
  
  Date of Establishment: 20.09.1994
  Location: Hyderabad   
  Total number of Colleges: 668
  States Covered: Andhra Pradesh, Pondicherry, Andman & Nicobar and Tamil Nadu
  
  
• Central Regional Office (CRO)
  
  Date of Establishment: 01.12.1994
  Location: Bhopal   
  Total number of Colleges: 791
  States Covered: Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan
  
  
• Western Regional Office (WRO)
  
  Date of Establishment: 11.11.1994
  Location: Pune  
  Total number of Colleges: 996
  States Covered: Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Dadar & Nagar Haveli, Daman and Deu
  
  
• North-Eastern Regional Office (NERO)
  
  Date of Establishment: 01.04.1995
  Location: Guwahati  
  Total number of Colleges: 253
  States Covered: Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland
  
  
• Northern Regional College Bureua (NRCB)
  
  Location: Delhi   
  Total number of Colleges: 922
  States Covered: Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Chandigarh, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh
  
  
• South-Western Regional Office (SWRO)
  
  Date of Establishment: 25.04.1999
  Location: Bangalore   
  Total number of Colleges: 714
  States Covered: Kerala, Karnataka and Lakshadweep
  
  
• Eastern Regional Office (ERO)
  
  Date of Establishment: 03.09.1996
  Location: Kolkata   
  Total number of Colleges: 1009
  States Covered: West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa and Sikkim
  
  

UGC, the statutory body also have some “Inter University Centers” like NSC, IUCAA, IUC-DAE, CEC, INFLIBNET, IUC-IS, NAAC, National Facilities, Academic Staff Colleges.

Presently NET, the entrance examination for the selection of teachers in the colleges and universities, is conducted by the UGC. The accredition for higher education is looked after by certain autonomous bodies established by UGC. These institutions are AICTE, DEC, ICAR, BCI, NCTE, RCI, MCI, PCI, INC, DCI, CCH, CCIM, Rehabilitation Council, State Councils of Higher Education, and National Council of Higher Education.