Parliament Question: Unnat Bharat Abhiyan 2.0 in Andhra Pradesh

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5913 ANSWERED ON 30.03.2026 Unnat Bharat Abhiyan 2.0 in Andhra Pradesh 5913. Shri G M Harish Balayogi: Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state: (a) the status of implementation of Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA) 2.0 in Andhra Pradesh, including the number of Higher Educational Institutions participating, villages adopted and students engaged, district-wise, especially in Konaseema district; (b) the details of sectoral interventions and technology-based solutions under UBA 2.0 in Andhra Pradesh, including sustainable agriculture, water management, sanitation, rural energy and livelihoods, district-wise, especially in Konaseema district; (c) the coordination mechanism between the Participating Institutions, Regional Coordinating Institutes and the District Administration in Andhra Pradesh for implementation of UBA 2.0; (d) the amount of funds allocated, released and utilised for UBA 2.0 in Andhra Pradesh during the last three years, year-wise and district-wise; (e) whether any assessment has been undertaken by the Government to evaluate the impact of UBA 2.0 in Andhra Pradesh in terms of rural development outcomes and student engagement, district-wise, if so, the details thereof; and (f) the steps taken/proposed to be taken by the Government to strengthen and expand UBA 2.0 in Andhra Pradesh, particularly in Konaseema district? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (DR. SUKANTA MAJUMDAR) (a) Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA) is a flagship scheme of the Ministry of Education launched in September 2014. It connects Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), also called Participating Institutions (PIs), in the country with the villages and local communities to identify challengesfaced by the rural communities. UBA aims to bring students closer to the village communities and other government organizations with the ultimate goal of sensitizing students about the socio-economic conditions of villages. It has created a wide network of stakeholders, viz., HEIs, government organizations, youth, NGOs, etc., to work across villages. The scheme focuses on sensitizing students of HEIs to the problems faced by villages and encourages them to work with villages to develop feasible solutions to these problems. Under UBA, a network of over 4,806 PIs has been enrolled, covering more than 22,000 villages across 35 States/UTs. Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi serves as the National Coordinating Institute (NCI) for the programme. For effective implementation, 50 Regional Coordinating Institutions (RCIs) have been designated across the country and 15 Subject Expert Groups (SEGs), coordinated by institutions of national importance, have been constituted to provide domain-specific technological solutions. 428 HEIs in Andhra Pradesh are enrolled as PIs under UBA and are working with 2030 villages with active involvement of students and faculty. Further, there are 12 PIs in Konaseema District engaged in UBA activities and are working with 60 villages. These institutions are mentored by the Regional Coordinating Institutes, namely Andhra University Visakhapatnam and Sri Venkateshwara Veterinary University (SVVU), Tirupati. Thousands of students are involved in the UBA activities in these institutes. A one-time grant of Rs.50,000 has been sanctioned and released to each of the 428 PIs in the State of Andhra Pradesh for carrying out village study and related activities. The detailed list of PIs in Andhra Pradesh is available on the UBA portal at: https://unnatbharatabhiyan.gov.in/list-participating- institutes?csrf_uba=594d8e100b4e321d7aeb4a452dde65dd&aishe_code=&institute_id=&state _id=2&district_id=&submitSearch= (b) Under UBA 2.0, 24 sectoral interventions and technology-based solutions have been sanctioned in various districts of Andhra Pradesh, including sustainable agriculture, water management, sanitation, rural energy and livelihoods. (c) The effective implementation of Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA) 2.0 in Andhra Pradesh has a well-structured coordination mechanism among the Participating Institutions (PIs), Regional Coordinating Institutes (RCIs), and the District Administration. The RCI & PI coordination ensures proper planning, execution, monitoring, and evaluation of activities in theUBA network villages. The District Administrations also play a crucial role in facilitating convergence with government schemes and providing administrative support. (d) During the last three years, a total amount of Rs.91.63 lakh has been released in Andhra Pradesh under the UBA Scheme. This amount includes, Rs 16.63 lakh to RCIs, Rs. 66.50 lakh to PIs, and Rs. 8.50 lakh sanctioned for Technology Interventions. (e) The Government has assessed the progress and effectiveness of UBA through periodic national-level evaluations by independent agencies. The scheme was first evaluated by the National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj in the year 2020–21. This has been again evaluated by the Indian Institute of Public Administration in 2025–26. These evaluations covered all States including Andhra Pradesh, and have concluded that UBA is a highly relevant and effective programme, uniquely combining academic objectives with grassroots rural development. It has also concluded that the scheme has created a strong foundation for participatory governance, social responsibility, and social innovation. (f) Government has taken several measures to strengthen and expand UBA 2.0 across the country, including in the state of Andhra Pradesh and Konaseena district. IIT Delhi is the National Coordinating Institute (NCI) of UBA to ensure ground level implementation of the scheme along with 50 RCIs which ensure the region-specific management of the HEIs. The scheme is supported by RCIs and SEGs in coordination with State Governments, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and University Grants Commission (UGC) to strengthen monitoring and expand coverage to more rural clusters. Ministry of Rural Development has been requested to collaborate with UBA scheme through District Collectors/ District Magistrates/ other concerned officers of the districts. To expand the program to more rural clusters, Government is promoting the scheme by regularly communicating with the State Governments, District Administrations and line Ministries for providing adequate support to institutes engaged under UBA. *****