UGC establishment legal basis – UGC NET Question

The University Grants Commission was given statutory status through the UGC Act, 1956 enacted by the Parliament of India. This Act clearly outlines its mandate for coordination, determination and maintenance of standards in university education. The year 1956 is therefore central to the legal identity and authority of the UGC. Because the stem asks for the year of the UGC Act, 1956 is the only correct completion of the statement.

Option A:
The year 1956 marks the passage of the UGC Act, which transformed the Commission from a recommendatory body into a statutory regulator. Its funding, standard-setting and advisory roles are all grounded in this legislation. Hence this option accurately matches the historical and legal fact required by the question.

Option B:
1961 is associated with other developments in education but not with the enactment of the UGC Act. Selecting this year would misplace the foundational legal moment of the Commission, so it cannot be correct here.

Option C:
1948 is closer to the time of the University Education Commission (Radhakrishnan Commission), which recommended establishing a UGC, but the Act itself was not passed that year. Thus this option confuses recommendations with the actual statutory enactment.

Option D:
1976 is important for making education a subject in the Concurrent List, but it is unrelated to the specific act that created the statutory UGC in 1956. Therefore it does not answer the stem correctly.