21 teachers, faculty from HEIs, polytechnics win National Awards 2026; President Murmu to felicitate
Twenty-one teachers and faculty members from higher education institutions (HEIs) and polytechnics have been chosen for the National Awards to Teachers (NAT) 2026 for their contribution to education.
Among the chosen awardees, 17 are male and 5 are female candidates. Droupadi Murmu, the president of India, will confer the NAT awards on September 5, 2026. The award ceremony will be held at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi.
Of the twenty one teachers/ faculty, this year, twelve faculty members from central HEIs, five from state universities and colleges, and four from polytechnics have been selected for the awards. Among the five awardees shortlisted from state universities and colleges, three are from government institutions and two are from private institutions.
The four polytechnic awardees include two each from government and private institutions. The nominations for National Awards to Teachers 2026 were accepted from May 26 to July 20, 2026, through the Rashtriya Puraskar Portal, awards.gov.in. The teachers were given a chance to nominate themselves and their institutions or their fellow teacher/ faculty members.
NAT 2026 selection process
The selection process involves two stages. First, a preliminary search-cum-screening committee evaluated the nominations and prepared a list of shortlisted applicants. Then, out of the shortlisted nominees, a jury committee selected the final confirmed list of awardees.
The press note states, “The Award is conferred on exemplary teachers/faculty members and the selection is based on their performance, as adjudged against several parameters including teaching-learning effectiveness, outreach activities, research and innovation, and sponsored research/faculty development programmes/consultancy teaching”.
In 2023, the National Awards to Teachers award was expanded to include teachers and faculty members from HEIs and polytechnics. Before that, the awards were only conferred to school teachers.
The inclusion of HEIs and polytechnics teachers and faculty was aligned with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which emphasises recognising talent in the education sector and rewarding them.
National Awards to Teachers 2026 awardee list
Below is the list of twenty-one selected awardees.
Sl No | Name | Institution | Discipline |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Avlokita Agrawal | IIT Roorkee, Uttarakhand | Sustainable Architecture and Built Environment |
2 | Kirti Chandra Sahu | IIT Hyderabad, Telangana | Chemical Engineering |
3 | Vinay Chamola, | BITS Pilani, Rajasthan | Electricals & Electronics Engineering |
4 | Srikant Gollapudi | IIT Bhubaneswar, Odisha | Metallurgy & Materials Science |
5 | Mithun Radhakrishna | IIT Gandhinagar, Gujarat | Chemical Engineering |
6 | Sourav Datta | IISER Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh | Plant Sciences |
7 | Vikram Vishal | IIT Bombay, Maharashtra | Earth Sciences |
8 | Sarvaiya Jayrajsinh Indrajitsinh | National Forensic Sciences University, Gandhinagar, Gujarat | Forensic Pharmacy and Food Forensics |
9 | Sankar Prasad Rath | IT Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh | Chemical Sciences |
10 | Manisha Nigam | Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University Srinagar, Uttarakhand | Biochemistry |
11 | Amar Mohanrao Taksande | Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College (JNMC), Wardha, Maharashtra | Medicines- Paediatrics |
12 | Arun Babu | All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Mangalagiri, Andhra Pradesh | Medicines- Paediatrics |
13 | Pukhrambam Lilabati Devi | Department of Dance and Music, Manipur University, Imphal, Manipur | Manipuri Dance |
14 | Ashutosh Mohan | Institute of Management Studies, Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Varanasi | Management |
15 | Ankuran Dutta | Gauhati University, Guwahati, Assam | Mass Communication |
16 | Shivani V | Karnataka Sanskrit University, Bangalore | Sanskrit |
17 | Rajeev Choudhary | Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University, Raipur, Chhattisgarh | Physical Education, Yoga Education |
18 | Vishwanatha H. S. | M.E.I. Polytechnic, Bangalore, Karnataka | Civil Engineering |
19 | Sasikala S | PSG Polytechnic College, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu | Electrical & Electronics Engineering |
20 | Kannan Rathinam | Sakthi Polytechnic College (Govt Aided), Erode, Tamil Nadu | Physics |
21 | Sandipann Pralhad Narote | Government Polytechnic, Solapur, Maharashtra | Electronics Engineering& Telecommunication |
The list includes both teachers and faculty members without any particular order