In this article we will discuss about what is UGC and what is its role in the academic world of India. First of all UGC acronym stands for University Grants Commission, India. It is a statutory body that was started in 1956. It was set up by the Union Government of India to ensure that the standard of the University education in India is maintained. Professor Ved Prakash was heading this institute when it started and he was a great academician. The UGC has its headquarters in New Delhi. As of today the offices can be located in all the major cities including Kolkata, New Delhi and Bangalore.

Post independence the government of India thought that education must be given the maximum importance from the elementary education to the highest levels of education such as the PhD degree. This is exactly why they wanted to come up with a body that will ensure that the education in India meets a certain standard. The UGC was originally looking into Aligarh University, Benaras University and Delhi University.

In 1957 almost all the universities came under the control of the UGC. It is the only grant giving institute in the country. It provides funds and it also arranges for the coordination and maintenance of the universities in India. The UGC controls the following in India:

1. Maintaining the standard of research, teaching and examination in the universities.
2. Promoting university education
3. Making regulations to maintain the minimum standard of education in the country
4. It is a link between the union government and the institutes of higher education
5. It also advises the government about the steps to be taken in order to improve the education system.

You can make out from the list above that UGC plays a vital role in the education of the country. It has ensured that a system it followed in higher education. UGC also ensures that the education in all these top universities is of the same standard so that the students passing out of these colleges can be considered equal. India is a vast country as a result there are thousands of colleges offering different courses. It is impossible to ensure that a common standard is maintained. However, UGC indeed makes this impossible task possible.

It has been successfully doing its role for almost half a century and will continue to do so even in the future. One of the best ways to ensure that the education in all these universities is at par is to ensure that the teachers are equally good. This is exactly why the final approval of the UGC is required before a lecturer is appointed in any of these colleges.

We hope that by now you have got a fair idea of what the UGC is and the role that it plays in the education system. The UGC also conducts the NET, which is the name of a qualification that is essential for a person to teach in the graduation and post graduation colleges.

There are totally sixteen institutes that are controlled by the UGC. To name some of them are AICTE, RCI, DCI, etc. It also funds these colleges. The verdict of UGC is final when it comes to education in these institutes. In the 2009 it was proposed that UGC should be closed and AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education) should take up the role of UGC. However, the UGC still continues to operate.

You must be wondering why this article on UGC is important for a student. Well it is very important. When you apply for any higher education in India you must check if the college is approved by UGC and specifically it is not there in the list of fake universities. Only when the college is approved by the UGC you should take up the course. If a college is not approved by UGC it may not be a good place to get your degree from. If the degree is not approved by the UGC it will not have much value in the future.

This is very important information and you must try to ensure that you follow this point well. UGC with the help of BSNL had launched the UGC-Info net. The idea was to connect all the colleges that are approved by UGC. This would ensure that the students and the students from these different colleges can interact and exchange their point of views. This would be a state of the art technology for these colleges. The concept is good but it still needs some more time before it can be actually implemented. There is a team that is working hard on making this a possibility.

We have tried to touch all the aspects of UGC in this article. We hope that you have liked this article on what is UGC. It is one of the most important bodies when it comes to higher education in India. It has made valuable contribution in improving the education in India and will continue to do so in the future. It is said that India has the best education in the world. This is exactly why UGC must be given the credit for this achievement.