New Delhi, Aug. 3: Indian government is taking many important and significant initiatives for enriching Indian education. University Grants Commission (UGC) is now working hard for increasing educational excellence in institutions.
The UGC, in its 542ndmeeting held on 2nd August 2019 has considered the reports of the Empowered Expert Committee (EEC) appointed by Government under the Chairmanship of Shri N Gopalaswami recommending (15) Public institutions and (15) Private institutions for considering to give the status of ‘Institutions of Eminence’.
Since the scheme has only provided for (10) Public and (10) Private Institutions, the UGC has examined the list of (15) Public and (15) Private Institutions using transparent and verifiable criteria.
The following were the principles used for identifying the (10) Public and (10) Private Institutions, from the list of (15) Public and (15) Private Institutions recommended by the EEC:
1. Since the thrust of the scheme is to prepare institutions for the global rankings, no existing institution which has NOT figured in any of the global/national ranks shall be recommended for the IoE status.
2. Only after exhausting the above criterion, if any slot remains vacant, consideration shall be given to 'yet to be established (Greenfield)' proposals.
The IITs Madras and Kharagpur, Delhi University, University of Hyderabad, Amritha Vishwa Vidyapeetham and VIT are among the 20 institutions recommended for the grant of the Institute of Eminence status by the University Grants Commission on Friday.
However, the UGC denied the tag to five private universities — Azim Premji University, Ashoka University, KREA University, Indian Institute for Human Settlements and the Indian Institute of Public Health — on the grounds that they have not been placed in any global or national rankings. Since their exclusion left a vacant slot on the list of private universities given the tag, the Satya Bharti Foundation — telecom major Airtel’s philanthropic arm — became the second greenfield institution to be given IoE status, after Jio Institute which is backed by the Reliance Foundation.
“We considered two types [of institutions], those who are already ranked well and those which are potential institutions. We might have felt something has potential, but the government may feel something else, they may have felt that if an institution is not ranked at all, it cannot be considered. It is entirely justified,” said N. Gopalaswami, former Chief Election Commissioner who headed the expert panel which initially identified the list of IoEs.
Anna University and Jadavpur University have been given the IoE tag on a conditional basis as they are state universities and will be finalized only after the Tamil Nadu and West Bengal governments issue an official communication allocating their share of funds (up to 50%).
The UGC’s recommendations will now be submitted to the Ministry for final grant of the status.
Jadavpur University and Anna University can be considered for issue of the IoE status only after the respective State Governments have issued an official communication allocating their share of the funds (up to 50%).
Private Institutions:
UGC has ranked the list of the (15) private institutions recommended by the EEC by taking their ranking in the QS India or NIRF rankings, and NIRF ranking has been used as tie-breaker. In case there is any vacant slot after considering all the ranked institutions, the same was used for 'yet to be set up (greenfield)' institution.
Since the thrust of the scheme is to prepare institutions for the global rankings, no existing institution which has NOT figured in any of the global/national ranks shall be recommended for the IoE status.
Only after exhausting the above criterion, if any slot remains vacant, consideration shall be given to 'yet to be established (Greenfield)' proposals.