NAHEP is designed to strengthen the national agricultural education system in India with overall objective to provide more relevant and high-quality education to agricultural university students. This programme will promote efficiency and competitiveness through changes in working mechanism of agricultural universities, raising the teaching and research standards through improved research and teaching infrastructure and enhanced faculty competency and commitments, and making agricultural education more attractive to talented students. There are four key components under NAHEP, namely; Institutional Development Plan (IDP), Centres for Advanced Agricultural Sciences and Technology (CAAST), ICAR to support excellence in agricultural universities (AUs), and ICAR Innovation Grants to Agricultural Universities. It is envisaged that improved AU performance through quality enhancement, better employment and entrepreneurship opportunities created for agriculture graduates, non-accredited AUs attaining ICAR accreditation, and institutional reforms implemented in education division of ICAR and AUs under these components together shall contribute to the achievement of the overall program objective.
Support to Institutional Development Plan of AUs
- The IDP financed activities are more oriented towards capacity building and governance reforms leading to the greater autonomy and sustained accreditation of the University.
- The key provisions for funding under IDP include teaching and research infrastructure development, faculty development and training, networking and industry collaboration, vocational training, students job placement, own revenue generation and support to twinning plan.
- In addition to these priorities, emphasis is also being placed on effective industry linkages to enhance employability of agriculture graduate as well as to help AUs to generate their own resources.
- Renewed public-private partnership efforts will strengthen stakeholder role in curriculum design and faculty and student development. This will help the agricultural higher education system in India to produce quality graduates with desired traits, exposure and experience, and skills in innovation, entrepreneurship, and agribusiness to solve current and emerging problems of agriculture.