Step 1: Recall the UGC's role.
The University Grants Commission coordinates and maintains standards of higher education across India, and it exists because Parliament passed a specific Act to create it.
Step 2: Recall the year of that Act.
The UGC Act was passed in 1956.
Step 3: Eliminate the nearby years.
1951, 1952 and 1955 relate to other education-related developments, not the UGC's own founding Act.
\[ \boxed{\text{1956}} \]