(a) whether the Government has any plan to amend the "University Grants Commission Act, 1956" in
the near future;
(b) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; and
(c) the steps taken by the Government to strengthen and liberalise the higher education sector in the
country?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
(Dr. MAHENDRA NATH PANDEY)
(a) & (b): No, Madam. There is no proposal to amend the UGC Act, 1956. The Government had
constituted a Review Committee headed by Dr. Hari Gautam, former Chairman UGC to review the
working of the University Grants Commission (UGC). The Committee had submitted its report. The
process of reforms has already been initiated in the UGC. Significant funding reforms and regulatory
reforms have been undertaken with a view to enhancing the effectiveness of regulatory mechanisms
of the UGC.
(c): The Central Government has launched several initiatives viz. National Institutional Ranking
Framework (NIRF), Impacting Research, Innovation & Technology (IMPRINT), Uchchtar Avishkar
Yojna (UAY), Global Initiative of Academic Networks (GIAN) in the field of education for the qualitative
development of education in the country. Under the NIRF, Educational Institutions will be ranked by
an independent ranking Agency for which objective criteria has been developed. They shall be ranked
separately in fields such as Engineering, Management, Pharma, Architecture etc.
Under the IMPRINT initiative, the Government has taken the initiative to address major engineering
challenges through the collaborative efforts of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian
Institute of Science (IISc). Under this, a roadmap is finalised to pursue engineering challenges in ten
technology domains that have large social impact. The objectives of UAY scheme are to promote
innovation in IITs addressing issues of manufacturing industries; to spur innovative mindset; to coordinate
action between academia & industry and to strengthen labs & research facilities. GIAN
scheme is for facilitating partnership between Higher Educational Institutions of the country and other
countries. The scheme is aimed at tapping international talent pool of scientists and entrepreneurs.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) undertakes maintenance of standards in teaching
and research and quality assurance in Universities, Deemed to be Universities and Colleges through
the following mechanisms, namely: framing regulations and schemes and disbursing grants to the
eligible institutions. The UGC has notified several regulations with the objective of sustenance and
improvement in the quality of higher education and for undertaking academic reforms. The regulations
are available at http://www.ugc.ac.in/page/UGC-Regulations.aspx. In order to encourage research
and development in the country, UGC has laid out schemes, awards, fellowships, chairs and
programmes under which financial assistance is provided to institutions of higher education as well as
faculty members working therein to undertake quality research covering areas of knowledge across
disciplines including revival & promotion of indigenous languages. These schemes are at
http://www.ugc.ac.in/page/XII-Plan-Guidelines.aspx . Further, UGC has notified Choice Based Credit
System (CBCS) for enhancing student mobility and providing a wider choice in subjects and for
facilitation of quality education through innovation and improvements in curriculum, teaching-learning
process, examination and evaluation systems; notifying a credit framework for skill development for
aligning skill education with formal education and launching several skill development schemes;
enhancing the coverage of scholarships/fellowships; incentivizing quality; undertaking equity
promotion on a wider scale; strengthening university-industry linkage; process reforms; student
centric initiatives etc.
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