President Murmu to Honour 21 Teachers on Teachers’ Day

• President Droupadi Murmu will confer the awards on September 5 in New Delhi.
• A total of 21 teachers and faculty members have been selected this year.
• The awardees include 12 faculty members from central HEIs, five from state institutions and four from polytechnics.
• Selection was based on teaching, research, innovation, outreach and other academic contributions.

GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 24th Aug: President Droupadi Murmu will confer the National Awards to Teachers 2026 on 21 teachers and faculty members from higher education institutions (HEIs) and polytechnics at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, on September 5, Teachers’ Day.

The awardees include 12 teachers/faculty members from central higher education institutions, five from state universities and colleges, and four from polytechnics.

The National Awards to Teachers recognise exemplary contributions in education. The selection considers parameters including teaching-learning effectiveness, outreach activities, research and innovation, sponsored research, faculty development programmes and consultancy-related teaching.

Two-stage selection process
Nominations for the 2026 awards were invited online through the Rashtriya Puraskar Portal from May 26 to July 20. The process included self, institutional and peer nominations as part of the Jan Bhagidari approach.

The selection involved an initial evaluation by a Preliminary Search-cum-Screening Committee, followed by selection of awardees from the shortlisted nominees by a Committee of Jury.

The awards for faculty members of HEIs and polytechnics were introduced in 2023. Until then, the National Awards to Teachers were primarily conferred on school teachers.

The expansion was aligned with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which emphasises incentives, rewards and recognition to promote a culture of excellence across the education ecosystem.

21 awardees selected
The awardees from higher education institutions include:

1. Prof. Avlokita Agrawal — IIT Roorkee, Sustainable Architecture and Built Environment
2. Prof. Kirti Chandra Sahu — IIT Hyderabad, Chemical Engineering
3. Prof. Vinay Chamola — BITS Pilani, Electrical and Electronics Engineering
4. Dr. Srikant Gollapudi — IIT Bhubaneswar, Metallurgy and Materials Science
5. Dr. Mithun Radhakrishna — IIT Gandhinagar, Chemical Engineering
6. Prof. Sourav Datta — IISER Bhopal, Plant Sciences
7. Prof. Vikram Vishal — IIT Bombay, Earth Sciences
8. Prof. Sarvaiya Jayrajsinh Indrajitsinh — National Forensic Sciences University, Gandhinagar, Forensic Pharmacy and Food Forensics
9. Prof. Sankar Prasad Rath — IIT Kanpur, Chemical Sciences
10. Dr. Manisha Nigam — Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University, Biochemistry
11. Dr. Amar Mohanrao Taksande — Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Wardha, Medicine-Paediatrics
12. Dr. Arun Babu — AIIMS Mangalagiri, Medicine-Paediatrics
13. Dr. Pukhrambam Lilabati Devi — Manipur University, Manipuri Dance
14. Prof. Dr. Ashutosh Mohan — Institute of Management Studies, Banaras Hindu University, Management
15. Prof. Ankuran Dutta — Gauhati University, Mass Communication
16. Ms. Shivani V. — Karnataka Sanskrit University, Sanskrit
17. Prof. Rajeev Choudhary — Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University, Physical Education and Yoga Education

The four selected faculty members from polytechnics are:

1. Dr. Vishwanatha H. S. — M.E.I. Polytechnic, Bengaluru, Civil Engineering
2. Dr. Sasikala S. — PSG Polytechnic College, Coimbatore, Electrical and Electronics Engineering
3. Dr. Kannan Rathinam — Sakthi Polytechnic College, Erode, Physics
4. Dr. Sandipann Pralhad Narote — Government Polytechnic, Solapur, Electronics Engineering and Telecommunication

The awards are intended to recognise teachers whose contributions extend beyond classroom teaching to research, innovation, community outreach and institutional development.