Parliament Question: Multidisciplinary education in Uttar Pradesh

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.4204 ANSWERED ON 01/04/2026 Multidisciplinary education in Uttar Pradesh 4204 Shri Sanjay Seth: Will the Minister of Education be pleased to state: (a) the initiatives undertaken to expand access to high-quality, multidisciplinary higher education in Uttar Pradesh; (b) the operational status and academic progress of centrally funded institutions established recently in the State; (c) whether the implementation of the Academic Bank of Credits (ABC) has facilitated smooth student mobility across UP universities; (d) the details of grants disbursed under the PM USHA scheme to upgrade State university infrastructure; and (e) the steps taken to strictly align university curricula with local industrial requirements to enhance graduate employability? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (Dr. SUKANTA MAJUMDAR) (a): Education is a subject of the concurrent list and both the Central and State governments work collaboratively to provide equitable access to education. The Central Government has taken various initiatives to expand access to high-quality, multidisciplinary higher education across India, including Uttar Pradesh. These include financial assistance and scholarships like Pradhan Mantri Uchchatar Shiksha Protsahan Scheme, fee waiver/reduction of disadvantaged groups, PM-Vidyalakshmi scheme, establishment of counselling cells for student support, SWAYAM portal for online and digital learning, National Digital Library and e-PG Pathshala. Further, in light of NEP 2020, a slew of initiatives for academic reforms have been undertaken like multiple entry and exit options, Academic Bank of Credits, Choice Based Credit System, National Credit Framework (NCrF) etc. Under the NMEICT scheme, Samarth, an Enterprise Resource Planning software, aims to streamline operations, reduce paperwork, enhance transparency, and improve service delivery for students, faculty and administrators of HEIs through more than 40 modules covering admissions, academic, examinations & employee management, among others. As of date, more than 9,500 HEIs from Uttar Pradesh have been onboarded on the Samarth platform.NAAC accreditation among colleges and universities in Uttar Pradesh increased by 25 per cent between 2023–24 and 2024–25. For colleges, the rise was 27 per cent, while universities recorded an 11 per cent increase. During the period 2023–25, 43 per cent of universities achieved accreditation. (b): Uttar Pradesh hosts several prestigious central institutions funded by the Ministry of Education. These include four Central Universities - Banaras Hindu University, Aligarh Muslim University, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, and the University of Allahabad. The state also has two IITs (IIT Kanpur and IIT BHU), two IIITs (IIIT Allahabad and IIIT Lucknow), Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology (MNNIT Allahabad), and Indian Institute of Management (IIM Lucknow). (c): The Ministry of Education has launched a 12-digit unique digital identity named Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry (APAAR ID) for every learner to facilitate the identification and to enable the systematic tracking of their academic and skilling journey under the Academic Bank of Credit (ABC) Scheme. APAAR ID is designed to accumulate credits earned from academic, skill and experiential learning. As on date, more than 2,700 award-granting institutions from the higher education ecosystem have been registered on ABC portal. In Uttar Pradesh, over 144 such institutions have been registered on the ABC portal since inception, with more than 72 lakh APAAR Ids created and over 1.3 crore credit records mapped. (d): The government has launched the third phase of Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) in June 2023 in the form of Pradhan Mantri Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (PM-USHA) for the period 2023-24 to 2025-26 with an outlay of Rs. 12926.10 crore, to cater to the needs of educationally unserved/ underserved areas. The scheme has been further extended till 31st March, 2028, for completion of PM USHA projects and for an additional 6 months (i.e., 30th September, 2026) for completion of ongoing RUSA projects. As of date, under PM–USHA, a total of 66 units have been approved in the State of Uttar Pradesh, with a total approved amount of Rs.1025.19 crore. (e): To align university curricula with local industrial requirements to enhance graduate employability, the National Credit Framework (NCrF) has been issued, enabling integration of Skill Education into academia. It also enables credit accumulation through diversified domains such as skill enhancement courses, value addition courses, and ability enhancement courses, along with internships and projects. The NCrF also has a provision for the accumulation of a maximum of 50 per cent of the total credit required through skill-based courses. Further, with the objective of aligning education with contemporary industrial requirements and creating a competent, industry-ready skilled workforce, UGC has launched the "Guidelines for Higher Education Institutions to offer Apprenticeship Embedded Degree Programme 2025", whereby such programmes can be offered in all disciplines in universities as specified in the guidelines. The Ministry of Education, in collaboration with IIT Madras and eminent Industry Partners, have launched the SWAYAM Plus platform. The platform offers high-quality learning and certification programs in partnership with leading industry and academic experts to students/ learners, helping them reskill, upskill, and become employment-ready. As of 1st March 2026,more than 500 Courses in 17 different sectors are available on the platform, and more than 5.24 lakh learners have enrolled for their Skill augmentation. The National Apprenticeship Training Scheme (NATS) was introduced to bridge the gap between students’ skills and industry requirements by offering high-quality, on-the-job training that enhances employability. A unique feature of NATS is that one year of apprenticeship training for Graduate and Technician/Diploma apprentices is considered as experience for employment under Central and State establishments. In Uttar Pradesh alone, over 60,000 individuals have undergone apprenticeship training through NATS in the past five years, from 2021-22 to 2024-25. ***