University Grants Commission was officially inaugurated in the year 1953, on the 28th of December, by Prime Minister Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. The Commission was established because of the decision of the Union Government that the grants-in-aid offered to the Central Universities as well as to other Institutes and Universities can be referred to as the University Grants Commission.
The University Grants Commission or UGC has been modeled according to the University Grants commission in the United Kingdom. There was a University Education Commission that was established right after independence, in India. Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan was the chairman of this organization. The University Education Commission paved the way for the formation of the University Grants Commission in the Indian sub-continent.
The chief objective of UGC in India is to look after the determination, coordination and the sustenance of the standards of university education in India. With this goal in mind, the University Grants Commission, India started working from the year 1956, during the month of November.
Some of the other goals which UGC strives to achieve through continuous progress in the filed of university education are as follows:
- Performing the function of a link between the higher education institutes, state governments and the Union
- Encouraging the teaching, examination and research activities in universities by maintaining a high standard for the same
- Formulating policies for determining the basic educational standards
- Promoting university education
- Improving standards of collegiate and university education and approving financial grants to the colleges and universities
- Offering useful advise to the Central and State governments on how to escalate the standards of college and university education in India
UGC in India ensures effective distribution of educational facilities by the setting up of 6 regional centers across the country. These regional centers are situated in Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh ), Pune (Maharashtra ), Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh ), Kolkata (West Bengal ), Bangalore (Karnataka ) and Guwahati (Assam ). The University Grants Commission has its head-quarter set up at the capital city of New Delhi, over the Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg. There are also 2 bureaus of UGC, which operate from the southern campus of the University of Delhi and the 35, Feroze Shah Road.
There are a total of 12 autonomous institutions that have been established under the University Grants Commission. These institutions include the following:
- INFLIBNET (INFORMATION AND LIBRARY NETWORK)
- Indian Nursing Council (INC)
- Distance Education Council (DEC)
- All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE)
- Central Council of Homeopathy (CCH)
- Bar Council of India (BCI)
- Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)
- Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM)
- Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI)
- National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE)
- Dental Council of India (DCI)
- Pharmacy Council of India (PCI)
- Medical Council of India (MCI).
The address of the head office of the University Grants Commission is as follows:
University Grant Commission (U G C)
Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg,
New Delhi
Pin: 110002
India.
Last Updated on 28 September 2012
