The Indian University Grants Commission

The Indian University Grants Commission (UGC), established shortly after Independence, has vested in its powers the responsibility of regulating academic standards as well as disbursing funds provided by central government.Unfortunately, in spite of such responsibilities being entrenched by statute, the UGC has chosen not to exercise them which has had serious consequences for academic standards in Indian universities. The Indian university structure was modelled on the collegiate structure of the University of London with the result that the vast expansion of student numbers in the 1950s and 1960s led to an uncontrolled increase in the number and size of the colleges which themselves came to dominate the university system. Again the UGC chose not to intervene and did not attempt to co-ordinate the growth of the colleges. Bearing in mind the public pressures for an expansion of university education, it would have been unrealistic to expect the UGC to have tried to prevent expansion but it could have sought to moderate it and to impose co-ordination. One result has been the growth of research institutes and high calibre teaching institutes outside the established university system. The UGC is now attempting to remedy the situation but it is clear that this will be a long and uphill task.