Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. File
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday (January 13, 2026) referred to as for premier technological establishments throughout India to come under the Centre’s national accreditation framework. Mr. Pradhan was talking on the thirteenth assembly of the Council of National Institutes of Technology, Science Education, and Research (NITSER), with a concentrate on aligning curricula with national priorities. The discussions additionally revolved round “360 degree PhD reforms”.
“Our curriculum must be aligned to national priorities. Our PhD programmes must be industry-centric,” the Minister mentioned, suggesting industry-led curriculum committees for making ready curricula primarily based on new and rising job roles and twenty first century wants.
The NITSER is the supreme governing council of the 31 National Institutes of Technology (NITs); the Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST) at Shibpur, West Bengal; and Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs).
At the assembly of the Council in New Delhi, Mr. Pradhan emphasised the necessity for top technological institutes of the nation to be introduced under the national accreditation framework, additionally noting that the NITs and IIESTs had been “poised to serve as vibrant hubs of applied education research, innovation, and future-ready workforce development”.
An announcement from the federal government mentioned that each one NITs and IISERs would full their exterior peer evaluation in a single 12 months, and agreed on “the importance of accreditation as a key quality assurance mechanism — with the institutions resolving to actively participate in the national accreditation framework (the National Assessment and Accreditation Council or NAAC)”.
While top technological institutes seem in numerous national and worldwide rating frameworks, usually fairly excessive, establishments such because the Indian Institutes of Techonology (IITs) and a number of other NITs should not have accreditation from the NAAC.
“Reviewed presentations on elevating academic and research standards, enhancing governance efficiency and further boosting innovation and entrepreneurship at our NITs and IIESTs. Also, discussed the way forward,” Mr. Pradhan mentioned in a publish on social media.
The assembly of the Council mentioned numerous measures advised over the curriculum, innovation on the institutes, and the promotion of “inclusivity through the use of Bharatiya Bhashas and adopting artificial intelligence for multilingual learning”, in accordance to a press release from the Education Ministry.
The Ministry mentioned that the Council mentioned aligning the curricula, evaluation, and tutorial programmes and analysis with important and rising applied sciences, together with, “Industry 4.0, green hydrogen, manufacturing, artificial intelligence, data analytics, cybersecurity, quantum technologies, and semiconductors”. Specialised postgraduate or M.Tech programmes aligned with particular {industry} necessities had been additionally mentioned.
The assembly additionally spoke of “360 degree PhD reforms”, which would come with “industry-led and industry-funded PhDs”, “product-based PhDs”, and “PhD assignment to faculty based on their performance”, in accordance to the federal government’s assertion.
At the assembly, there was a name for organising incubation centres at 13 NITs that don’t but have one, together with the decision for 10 NITs to “immediately set up” analysis parks, and plan for a pitching conclave to be held in July this 12 months for start-ups incubated in NITs in collaboration with buyers and {industry} stakeholders.
The assembly of the NITSER was attended by top officers of the federal government from the Education Ministry, the Science and Technology Ministry, Directors of top know-how and science analysis institutes throughout the nation, together with Prof. Anil D. Sahasrabuddhe, Chairman, Executive Committee of the NAAC, and former University Grants Commission Chairperson Prof. M. Jagadesh Kumar.
Published – January 13, 2026 09:19 pm IST