Ministry of Education to take over visitor's awards for universities, researchers

NEW DELHI: The annual Visitor's Awards for top universities and researchers have now been transferred from the Rashtrapati Bhavan to the Ministry of Education, according to an official notification. The MoE will take over the Visitor's Awards from now on and only seek final approval on recommended awardee names from the President.

"In her capacity as the Visitor of the Central Universities, the President of India is pleased to approve the transfer of the work related to Visitor's Awards, from 8th Visitor's Awards onwards, to the Ministry of Education. The MoE has to submit the recommended names for final selection of awardees to the President's Secretariat for the consideration and approval of the President of India," read the notification issued by the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

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The Visitor's Awards were instituted in 2014 with the aim to promote healthy competition among central universities and motivate them to adopt best practices from around the world in pursuit of excellence. The first Visitor's Awards were presented during conference of vice chancellors of central universities in February, 2015. The awards are presented in categories including -- Visitor's Award for Innovation; Visitor's Award for Research in Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, Physical Sciences and Biological Sciences; and Visitor's Award for Technology. The award carries a citation and cash reward of Rs 2.5 lakh.