Lok Sabha Question No. 3570 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-08-08
Subject: University Grants Commission Act, 1956
Ministry: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: HARI OM PANDEY, MANOJ KUMAR TIWARI, NARANBHAI KACHHADIA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION

LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No.3570 TO BE ANSWERED ON 08.08.2016

## University Grants Commission Act, 1956

## 3570. SHRI HARI OM PANDAY: SHRI MANOJ TIWARI: SHRI NARANBHAI KACHHADIYA:

Will the Minister of HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (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?

## ANSWER

## 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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