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Maulana Azad National Urdu University

Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU) is a central university based in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. Established by an Act of the Parliament of India, the university has a mandate to promote and develop the Urdu language and to impart higher education and vocational training through the medium of Urdu. It is named after Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the scholar, freedom fighter and the first Union Minister of Education of independent India.

Key facts
Type Central University
Location Gachibowli, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
Medium of instruction Primarily Urdu
Named after Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
Established by Act of Parliament of India
Affiliation University Grants Commission (UGC)

Background

The university was set up to address a long-standing demand for an institution of higher learning that would deliver modern education in the Urdu medium. Its mandate combines conventional university education with distance learning, teacher training and skill-oriented programmes, with the aim of widening educational access for Urdu-speaking communities across India.

Academic structure

MANUU offers programmes at undergraduate, postgraduate, M.Phil. and doctoral levels across disciplines including humanities, social sciences, languages, education, mass communication, management and information technology. The university operates through:

  • Schools and departments on its main campus in Hyderabad.
  • A Directorate of Distance Education that runs Urdu-medium correspondence programmes nationwide through a network of regional and study centres.
  • Colleges of Teacher Education (CTEs) located in several Indian cities, offering teacher training in the Urdu medium.
  • Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and Polytechnics for vocational and technical education.

Campus

The main campus is located at Gachibowli in Hyderabad. In addition to the headquarters, MANUU maintains satellite campuses and centres in different parts of the country to support its teacher education colleges, polytechnics and regional study operations.

Significance

MANUU occupies a distinctive position in the Indian higher education system as one of the few central universities offering instruction primarily through Urdu. Its activities span academic teaching, vocational training, distance education and the production of academic and pedagogical material in Urdu, supporting both the language's continued use in scholarship and the educational needs of Urdu-medium learners.

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