Central Universities

Central universities are established by the central government or the government of India and funded by the organization of central government i.e. UGC; however the state universities are established by state government and UGC make budgetary plan allocation for state universities. Presently there are 42 central universities in India as per UGC records. Lists of central universities can be obtained from the following link List of Central Universities

Delhi the capital has the highest number of central universities.

Now what is UGC? UGC (university grants commission) is a legal organization set up by central government of India. It has been provided with the responsibilities of providing funds and coordination, determination and maintenance of standards in institutions of higher education. UGC provides intense support to the universities, the universities in India are considered largely as noble and charitable investments, with little concern for cost effectiveness and income generation. In many cases most of the university services are provided free.

President of India is the visitor of all central universities. President/Visitor nominates some members to the Executive Committee/Board of Management/Court/Selection Committees of the University as per the provisions made in the relevant University Act. Ministry provides secretariat service for appointment of Vice-Chancellor/Executive Committee Nominees/Court Nominees/Selection Committee Nominees etc. by the President.

According to the report of committee on UGC funding of institutions of higher education, each central university has a finance committee constituting representatives of the university, local educationists and a nominee each from UGC and the Ministry of Human Resources Development, (usually the Financial Adviser). The finance committee is a legal authority in the central universities headed by the Vice Chancellor, which apart from its other concerns, is responsible for the preparation of the budget both for its maintenance and development-. Normally, all current on-going activities of the universities come under maintenance budget. This is also termed as the non-plan budget which includes salary and allowances of teaching and non-teaching staff, and expenditure on libraries, laboratories, workshops, services, estate and general infrastructural maintenance.

Development grants are also called plan grants, are approved to central universities for expansion of their activities and for developing new programs. The support covers expenditure on staff, buildings, equipment, libraries and other related activities. As the universities develop, the size of their maintenance grants becomes larger and larger but the size of development grant does not grow proportionately.

All central universities are the place of excellence, promoters of integration, innovation for programs and courses. Central universities develop corporate intellect for the country to promote national integration. Government of India has proposed few more new central universities in Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu. The higher education system in India spanning the world, now it’s the responsibility of Central Government to come up with the policies to improve the quality of higher education in India keeping in view of growing need of qualified human resources in various sectors of the economy.