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What is the full form of UGC?

By Anushree Goswami Last updated : April 20, 2024

UGC is an abbreviation of the University Grants Commission. It is an organization established by the Indian Union government in agreement with the UGC Act 1956 under the Ministry of Human Resource Development, which looks after the policies, parameters, and standards of higher education in universities of India.

Image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_Grants_Commission_(India)

UGC Head Office

UGC head office is situated in New Delhi and it has six provincial centers in Bhopal, Pune, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Guwahati, and Bangalore.

UGC History

• In 1945, the UGC was first established to administer the work of the three Central Universities of Aligarh, Banaras, and Delhi. Its duty was extended in 1947 to cover all Indian universities.
• In 1952, the government resolute that all grants to universities and higher learning institutions should be managed by the UGC.
• Later on 28 December 1953, an inaugural ceremony was held by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the Minister of Education, Natural Resources and Scientific Research.
• In November 1956, the UGC turned out to be a constitutional organization upon the passing of the "University Grants Commission Act, 1956" by the Indian Parliament.
• In 1994 and 1995, the UGC decentralized its functions by establishing the six provincial centers in Bhopal, Pune, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Guwahati, and Bangalore.
• In December 2015, the Indian government set a National Institutional of Ranking Framework under UGC which will rank all educational institutes by April 2016.
• In December 2017, D.P. Singh, former director of National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), was allotted the position of the chairman for five years, by substituting UGC member Virender Singh Chauhan, who managed the position since the retirement of Ved Prakash in April 2017.