The Ministry of Education (MoE) has now taken over the responsibility of the annual Visitor's Awards for top universities and researchers from the Rashtrapati Bhavan, according to an official notification.

According to PTI reports, the MoE will now take over the Visitor's Awards from now on and only seek final approval on recommended awardee names from the President of India.

According to the notification issued by the Rashtrapati Bhavan, it stated that, "In her capacity as the Visitor of the Central Universities, the President of India is pleased to approve the transfer of the work related to Visitor's Awards, from 8th Visitor's Awards onwards, to the Ministry of Education. The MoE has to submit the recommended names for final selection of awardees to the President's Secretariat for the consideration and approval of the President of India."

What are the Visitor's Awards?

The awards were first initiated in 2014 with the aim to promote healthy competition among central universities and motivate them to adopt best practices from around the world in pursuit of excellence.

The first Visitor's Awards were presented during a conference of vice-chancellors of central universities in February 2015.

Categories and prize

The awards are presented in categories including — Visitor's Award for Innovation; Visitor's Award for Research in Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, Physical Sciences and Biological Sciences; and Visitor's Award for Technology.

The award carries a citation and cash reward of Rs 2.5 lakh.