UGC NET Questions (Paper – 1)

The task is to select the wrong statements about post-independence commissions. Statement A is wrong because the Radhakrishnan Commission was primarily concerned with university education and the place of higher learning in independent India, not with ignoring higher education. Statement B is also wrong since the Kothari Commission famously recommended that around six percent of national income be spent on education, not one-third. Statements C and D are broadly correct in highlighting the integrative role of education and the continuing influence of commissions on higher education reforms.

Option A:
Option A is incorrect because it treats only statement A as wrong. While A is indeed incorrect about the focus of the Radhakrishnan Commission, statement B also misstates the recommended level of expenditure on education. Leaving out B means this option does not capture all the wrong statements.

Option B:
Option B is correct because it includes both A and B, the two statements that distort the historical record. It properly identifies the misrepresentation of the Radhakrishnan Commission’s focus and the exaggeration of the Kothari Commission’s spending recommendation. By excluding C and D, it avoids labelling as wrong those statements that correctly reflect the role of commissions in higher education.

Option C:
Option C is incorrect because it combines B and C as wrong statements. Although B is wrong, C is correct in emphasising education as an instrument of social and national integration, a central theme in the Kothari Commission’s report. Including a correct statement among the wrong ones invalidates this option.

Option D:
Option D is incorrect because it joins A and C as wrong statements. While A is wrong, C is a true statement about the integrative vision of the Kothari Commission. Therefore this combination misclassifies a correct statement and cannot be accepted.

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.