About UGC

Objective The Government established university Grants Commission (UGC) by an Act of Parliament in 1956. It discharges the Constitutional mandate of coordination, determination, and maintenance of standards of teaching, examination and research in the field of University and Higher Education. UGC serves as a vital link between the Union and State Governments and the institutions of higher learning. It monitors developments in the field of collegiate and university education; disburses grants to the universities and colleges; advises Central and State Governments on the measures necessary for the improvement of university education; and frames regulations such as those on the minimum standards of instruction Composition The Commission comprises the Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson and ten other members appointed by the Central Government. The Chairperson is selected from among persons who are not officers of the Central Government or any State Government. Of the ten members, two are from amongst the officers of the Central Government to represent it. Not less than four, selected from among persons who are, at the time they are selected, shall be a teacher in the Universities. Others are selected from among eminent educationists, academics and experts in various fields. Chairperson is appointed for a term of 5 years or until the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier. Vice-Chairperson is appointed for a term of 3 years or until the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier. The other members are appointed for a term of 3 years. The Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson and members can be appointed for a maximum of two terms. Present composition

Dr. Arun Nigavekar - Chairperson, UGC Prof. V.N. Rajasekharan Pillai, - Vice-Chairperson Shri Sudeep Banerjee – Secretary (S&HE) Dr. Adarsh Kishore, - Secretary (Expenditure) Dr. S.K. Joshi, Chairman, Recruitment & Assessment Centre, DRDO, Lucknow Road, Timarpur, Delhi. Prof. Sureshwar Sharma, Vice-Chancellor, Rani Durgavati Vishwavidyalaya, Jabalpur. Prof. B.H. Briz Kishore, Chairman, National Council of Rural Institutes. Prof. Suranjan Das, Deptt. of History, University of Calcutta. Dr.Sivaji Rao Shripat Rao Kadam, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed University, Pune. Dr. P.N. Tandon, Ex. Prof., AIIMS, New Delhi Dr. Aruna Goel, Professor of Sanskrit, Panjab University, Chandigarh. Position of one member - vacant Funding UGC has no funds of its own. It receives both Plan and Non-Plan grants from the Central Government to carry out the responsibilities assigned to it by law. It allocates and disburses full maintenance and development grants to all Central Universities, Colleges affiliated to Delhi and Banaras Hindu Universities and some of the institutions accorded the status of ‘Deemed to be Universities’. State Universities, Colleges and other institutions of higher education, receive support only from the Plan grant for development schemes. Besides, it provides financial assistance to Universities and colleges under various schemes/programmes for promoting relevance, quality and excellence as also promoting the role of social change by the Universities. The details of the grants provided by the Government to UGC during the IX Plan and X Plan both under Plan and Non-Plan, are as under: IX Plan (Rs. In crores) Year Plan Non-Plan 1997 – 1998 352.10 545.00 1998 – 1999 360.35 1009. 00 1999 – 2000 376.00 975.00 2000-2001 435.00 1000.00 2001-2002 467.78 1020.68 X Plan YEAR Plan Non-Plan 2002-03 559.76 1100.00 2003-04 516.75 1132.30 2004-05 719.75 1182.85 2005-06 374.41 (upto 31.8.05) 609.17 (upto 31.8.05) Institutions of Higher Education & Their Growth, Enrolment and Faculty As on 31.3.2005, there were 342 Universities including 18 Central Universities, 211 State Universities, 95 deemed Universities and 5 institutions established under State Legislation and 13 Institutes of National Importance. There were 17625 colleges, of which 5386 have been recognized by the UGC under Section 2(f) and 12(B) of the UGC Act. In 2004-05, an estimated 104.81 lakh students were enrolled in the institutions of Higher Education as against 99.54 lakh in the previous year and the faculty strength was 4.71 lakh as compared to 4.57 lakh in the previous year. Regional Offices: Name of Regional Office States Southern Eastern Regional Office, Hyderabad Andhra Pradesh, Pondicherry, Andaman & Nicobar and Tamil Nadu Central Regional Office, Bhopal Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan Eastern Regional Office, Kolkata West Bengal, Bihar, Orissa and Sikkim North Eastern Regional Office, Guwahati Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura and Nagaland Western Regional Office, Pune Goa, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Dadar & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu South-Western Regional Office, Bangalore Kerala, Karnataka and Lakshdweep Northern Regional College Bureau, Delhi Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Chandigarh, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh Inter University Centres (IUCs) Under Section 12 (ccc) of the UGC Act, the Commission has established the following Inter – University Centres to provide common facilities, service and programmes to Universities since heavy investment in infrastructure and inputs have made it beyond the reach of individual Universities to obtain these facilities Centre Objective Nuclear Science Centre, New Delhi Accelerator oriented research IUC for Astronomy an Astrophysics, Pune State-of-the-art instrumentation for Inter – University Consortium for DAE facilities, Indore Use of facilities of Department of Atomic Energy Information and Library Network (INFLIBNET) Ahmedabad Networking of libraries through electronic media Consortium for Educational Communication (CEC) New Delhi To disseminate Countrywide programme through television National Assessment & Accreditation Council (NACC) Bangalore To assess and accredit public & Private institutions of higher learning