Important points to Note for UGC NET:

• The state with the most universities - Rajasthan with 76 universities. 
• The state with the most deemed universities- Tamil Nadu with 28 universities.
• Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat have the most state universities, 28 each. 
• Rajasthan has the most private universities, 46 in number. 
• Uttar Pradesh has 6 central universities.

HIGHER EDUCATION 

1. UNIVERSITY GRANTS COMMISSION (UGC)

• UGC came into existence on 28 December 1953 and governs universities in India.
• In 1956, UGC became a statutory organization established by an act of Parliament.
• As per the UGC Act (section 12), the main functions of UGC are coordination, determination, and maintenance of standards in universities.
• It acts as are a commendatory body.
• It does not have the powers to establish or derecognize any university.
• UGC comprises of the chairman, vice chairman, and 10 other re-members appointed by the central government.
• Secretary is the Executive Head.
• It functions from New Delhi as well as its seven regional offices located in Bangalore, Bhopal, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune and Delhi.
• The first chairman of UGC was Dr. C.D Deshmukh.
• UGC implements numerous schemes aiming at improving the quality of higher education like:
  1. UPE: Universities with Potential for Excellence
  2. CPE: colleges with Potential for Excellence
  3. CPEPEA: Centre with potential for excellence and a particular Area
  4. SAP: Special Assistance Programme
  5. BSR: Basic scientific research

2. UGC Regional Offices

(a). Schemes

UGC Regional offices have implemented the schemes provided below:

• Development of Colleges affiliated to State Universities.
• Award of Teacher Fellowship to College Teachers to pursue M.Phil/Ph.D. for better development.
• Minor Research Projects for College teachers.
• Seminar/Symposia/Conference etc. for colleges.
• Construction of Women's Hostel (Special scheme).
• Provide financial assistance to teachers who are Visually Handicapped (Blind).

(b). The details of the regional offices

1. Northern Regional College Bureau (NRCB)
   Location: Delhi 
   Total number of Colleges: 922
   States Covered: Jammu & Kashmir,  Punjab, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh
2. Western Regional Office (WRO)
   Location: Pune
   Date of Establishment: 11.11.1994
   Total number of Colleges: 996
   States Covered: Maharashtra, Goa, Gujarat, Dadar & Nagar Haveli, Daman, and Diu
3. Eastern Regional Office (ERO)
   Location: Kolkata 
   Date of Establishment: 03.09.1996
   Total number of Colleges: 1009
   States Covered: West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, and Sikkim
4. Central Regional Office (CRO)
   Location: Bhopal
   Date of Establishment: 01.12.1994
   Total number of Colleges: 791
   States Covered: Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh
5. Southern Eastern Regional Office (SERO) ,
   Location: Hyderabad
   Date of Establishment: 20.09.1994
   Total number of Colleges: 668
   States Covered: Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and Andaman & Nicobar
6. North-Eastern Regional Office (NERO)
   Location: Guwahati  
   Date of Establishment: 01.04.1995
   Total number of Colleges: 253
   States Covered: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura, and Nagaland
7. South-Western Regional Office (SWRO)
   Location: Bangalore 
   Date of Establishment: 25.04.1999
   Total number of Colleges: 714
   States Covered: Lakshadweep, Kerala, and Karnataka

3. CATEGORIZATION OF UNIVERSITIES

• There are two routes for establishing universities:

(i) through legislation

(ii) the deemed route.

• University/ University-level Institutions are mainly categorized in the following categories:
  1. Central Universities
  2. State Universities
  3. Deemed-to-be Universities and
  4. The institution of National Importance

Total No. of Universities in India as on 12.11.2018

(a). Central University

• A central university is established or incorporated by a Central Act (Act of parliament) and is under the purview of the Department of Higher education in the Union HRD Ministry.
• There are 48 central universities under the purviews of MHRD.
• The President of India is the Visitor of all central universities. He nominates few members in significant committees of the universities for effective and smooth functioning.

(b). State University

• A state university is established or incorporated by a Provincial Act or by a State Act.
• According to this list, there are 392 State Universities.

(c). Private University

• A Private University is a university which is established through a State or a Central Act by a sponsoring body (Sponsoring body is a Society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860).
• Other law for the time being in force in a State or a Public Trust or a Company which is registered under the Companies Act, 1956 (Sec. 25)
• There are 317 Private Universities listed under UGC.
• These universities can grant degrees but they are not allowed to have off-campus affiliated colleges.

(d). Deemed-to-be University

• A Deemed University refers to a high-performing institution, as declared by the Central Government under the UGC Act, 1956 (Section 3).
• Deemed Universities enjoy academic status and privileges of a university.
• These universities award degrees to the students for courses which are offered at the time of conferment of the status of them and other courses allied to the approved courses.
• These universities can also award degrees for conventional/ general degree programmes -B.A/ B.Com/ B.Sc or M.A. M.Sc.
• There are 125 Deemed to be University according to the UGC list.

(e). The institution of National Importance

• An Institution is established by Act of Parliament and declared an Institution of National Importance.
• There are 91 Institutes under this list including IIMs.

4. Major Focused Indian Government Initiatives in Higher Education

(a). SKILL INDIA INITIATIVE- Kaushal Bharat, Kushal Bharat’.

• This scheme has been launched by Mr. Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India.
• The target under this initiative has been set to train400 million citizens by 2022 that would make them industry-oriented.
• The initiatives launched include various programmes like:

1. PMKVY: Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana
2. NPSDE: National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 2015
3. Skill Loan scheme

1. Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY): It is the flagship program and it includes incentivizing skill training by providing financial rewards on completion of training to the participants.

2. (NPSDE) National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 2015

• This is based on the vision to skill the Indian youth rapidly with high standards to make them ready for modern industries.
• This policy also promotes entrepreneurship skills among youth for creating wealth and gainful employment for the citizens.

3. Skill Loan Scheme

• It is designed to disburse loans of Rs 5,000 (US$ 75.3) to Rs 150,000 (US$ 2,260) to 3.4 million Indians planning to develop their skills in the next five years.

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