Defence, rural devpt among new UG courses; Telangana eyes mandatory robotic surgery training

HYDERABAD: The Telangana Council of Higher Education (TGCHE) has introduced undergraduate programmes in emerging and employment-oriented areas in 10 colleges in the state in the current academic year (2026–27), beginning with courses in defence and security sciences and land, agriculture and rural development.

According to TGCHE, the BA in Defence and Security Sciences is being offered in 10 colleges in the first phase across the state. The programme is intended to provide students with specialised exposure to defence-related subjects and create a pool of graduates who could explore opportunities in the expanding defence and aerospace sectors.

The council has also introduced the BA in Land, Agriculture and Rural Development in a few colleges this academic year. The new programmes are being introduced in a phased manner, considering the availability of faculty, curriculum and study material.

Talking to TNIE, TGCHE Chairman Prof V Balakista Reddy said, “The council was extending academic support to institutions taking up the new programmes. This includes providing course material, supporting faculty development and facilitating guest faculty wherever required. Since the programmes are being introduced for the first time, existing faculty members are also being trained to handle the new subjects. The Defence and Security Sciences programme will have five subjects. Three will deal with defence-related areas, while the remaining subjects will cover languages and other components.”

Rather than introducing the courses across a large number of institutions at once, the council plans to assess their implementation and the response from colleges and students before expanding them further. More institutions are expected to adopt the programmes in the coming academic years.

The move comes as higher education institutions are increasingly being encouraged to offer programmes linked to emerging sectors and changing employment requirements. The council is also working on integrating artificial intelligence into teaching and learning, including the development of AI tutors.

Courses in areas such as maritime technology and space technology are also being considered for introduction in the 2027-28 academic year. The proposed expansion is expected to depend on the availability of trained faculty and academic infrastructure, as well as the experience gained from implementing the new programmes in the first set of colleges, he added.

Robotic surgery training may be mandatory for PG students

Health Minister Damodar Rajanarasimha said the Telangana government was considering a proposal to introduce six months of mandatory training in robotic surgery for postgraduate medical students. He was speaking at the state-level multi-speciality robotic surgery workshop at the Marri Chenna Reddy Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences (MCR TIMS), Sanathnagar, on Sunday.

Rajanarasimha said the government would approach the National Medical Commission (NMC) for permission to incorporate the training into the three-year postgraduate programme. The proposal is part of the state’s plan to create a trained pool of surgeons as it expands robotic surgery services across government hospitals.

The government is examining a hub-and-spoke model as well as the possibility of establishing robotic surgery facilities at the district level, he added. Narendra Kumar, director of MCR TIMS, highlighted that surgeons from 35 medical colleges and 47 hospitals were being trained in robotic surgery at Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) and MNJ Cancer Institute.

The aim, he said, was to ensure that advanced surgical technology was not restricted to a few tertiary hospitals in Hyderabad. The health minister said Telangana had made significant progress in robotic surgery, with NIMS completing nearly 1,000 procedures.