AICTE to grant Rs 4 cr for regional language conferences under VAANI scheme

To encourage the use of Indian languages in technical education, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) introduced the second edition of its flagship initiative, AICTE-VAANI

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) launched the second edition of its flagship scheme AICTE-VAANI on Wednesday. This scheme focuses on promoting Indian languages in technical education.

 

This year, the technical education regulator will allocate Rs 4 crore to institutions for organising 200 conferences, seminars, and workshops on emerging technical fields in 22 regional languages.

 

Prof TG Sitharam, chairperson of AICTE, said in a statement that the VAANI (Vibrant Advocacy for Advancement and Nurturing of Indian Languages) scheme seeks to establish a robust knowledge base in regional languages to make the latest technological advancements accessible in local languages.

 

 

“The scheme will encourage the publication of research papers in regional languages. The initiative will foster greater collaboration between academic institutions and industries,” he added.

 

According to AICTE vice chairman Dr Abhay Jere, the primary focus is to build critical thinking and problem-solving irrespective of the languages used. He also advocates creating a comprehensive repository of all conferences for future references and research purposes.

AICTE-VAANI 2025 event languages

AICTE-VAANI 2025 will provide financial assistance of ₹2 lakh for each conference, totalling ₹4 crore annually, to conduct 200 conferences. According to the AICTE, the events will last 2 to 3 days and must be organised in 22 regional languages, including Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu.

 

The events consisting of conferences, seminars, and workshops should be organised in 16 emerging technical fields like quantum technology, space and defence, hydrogen energy, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data science, agrotech, food processing, and cybersecurity.

AICTE 2025: Last date to apply

The online application process for AICTE-approved institutions will remain open from March 25 to April 24 through the AICTE-ATAL portal at https://www.aicte-india.org/atal. All Institutions will be selected according to AICTE’s criteria to ensure quality and relevance for all conferences, seminars, or workshops.

 

Nilanjana Dutta Roy, associate professor at Techno International New Town (TINT), Kolkata said, “Through AICTE-VAANI, the AICTE is trying to promote technical education in regional languages by providing financial assistance of ₹2 lakh to colleges. In January this year, we organised a 2-day workshop on integrating supercomputing with AI and quantum computing in the Bengali language. We held discussions and conducted workshops in Bengali language with financial support from AICTE.”

What are the objectives of the AICTE-VAANI 2025 event?

The objective of the AICTE-VAANI 2025 event is to promote Indian languages in technical education and develop collaboration between academic institutions and industries. It encourages research publications in regional languages.