The Indian Universities Commission of 1902, headed by Sir Thomas Raleigh and appointed during Lord Curzon's time, was set up to recommend reforms in:

The Indian Universities Commission, headed by Sir Thomas Raleigh, was appointed by Lord Curzon in 1902 to examine the condition of the universities in India and recommend reforms.

Background:

• Lord Curzon (Viceroy, 1899-1905) believed that the standards of university education in India had fallen.
• He held a conference of educationists at Shimla in 1901, which prepared the ground for the commission.

Members of the commission:

• It was headed by Sir Thomas Raleigh.
• It had two Indian members: Syed Hussain Bilgrami, and Gooroodas Banerjee (a judge of the Calcutta High Court), who wrote a note of dissent on some points.

The Indian Universities Act (1904):

• On the recommendations of the commission, the Indian Universities Act was passed in 1904.
• It increased government control over the universities.
• It reduced the size of the university Senates, and most members were to be nominated by the government.
• It allowed the universities to do teaching and research, not just to hold examinations.
• It laid down stricter conditions for the affiliation of colleges, with regular inspection.
• It gave the government the power to approve or veto decisions of the Senate.

Indian reaction:

• Indian nationalists opposed the Act, because they felt it was meant to control the universities and to check the growth of nationalist ideas among students.
• Gopal Krishna Gokhale criticised the Act strongly in the Imperial Legislative Council.

Other commissions under Curzon:

• The Police Commission (1902), headed by Andrew Fraser.
• The Irrigation Commission (1901), headed by Colin Scott-Moncrieff.
• The Famine Commission (1900), headed by Antony MacDonnell.

Why not the other options?

• ✗The police system, famine relief and irrigation were the subjects of other commissions appointed by Curzon.