From 50 Years Ago: Autocrats of the University Grants Commission.

So soon after its birth, the University Grants Commission has emerged as a powerful force in shaping the destinies of our Universities. If the present trend is any guide to the future, its power is likely to increase even more. It is essential that academic men all over India keep a watchful eye on this organization. It can be an enormous force for good or evil.

At the present time, however, academic men do not still seem to have got over the surprise of suddenly finding an organization which not only has the money but actually asks them if they have any plans for development of their departments! What is worse, the attitude of academic men to the new patron is essentially the same as that of an old Brahmin Pandit to his kindly patron. They bow and simper before the University Grants Commission officials whose recommendatory note means everything to them. Not only will their departments progress and their own research activities benefit, but once they secure grants, a new value accrues to them in their Universities! They are the men who attract the funds.