Lucknow: Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University (AKTU) has made activity points compulsory for BTech students from the current academic session, adding a new graduation requirement alongside semester examinations.Under the revised first-year BTech course structure, AKTU has adopted the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) rule requiring students to earn activity points through social, technical, extracurricular and volunteering work during their degree programme.The rule will apply to more than 2.5 lakh students enrolled in 759 affiliated colleges across Uttar Pradesh.Regular BTech students will have to secure 100 activity points over four years, while lateral-entry students will need 75 points to qualify for graduation.Dean, undergraduate studies, Anurag Tripathi, said the points would be earned through activities such as rural internships, blood donation, NCC and NSS participation, Smart India Hackathon involvement and technical skill certifications. Students will have to maintain documentation of their participation in a file or diary for verification.Tripathi said the activity points would not affect the cumulative grade point average but would be recorded on the final transcript and reflected on the eighth-semester grade card.Students will be allowed to accumulate points at any time during their programme, including weekends, holidays and vacations, provided they complete the minimum hours prescribed for each activity.AKTU officials said students who fail to meet the activity point requirement will face delays in receiving their degree. If the required points are not earned, the eighth-semester grade card will be withheld until the condition is fulfilled. The degree will be awarded only after the grade card is released.The university has introduced other changes in the BTech course structure as well. Programme Specific Courses will now consist of core subjects tailored to each engineering branch, including Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science and Civil Engineering. Students must choose and complete the theory and laboratory courses linked to their admitted stream.Engineering Sciences Courses have been designed to broaden technical exposure beyond the core discipline. Students must select two courses from streams other than their own.
