IIT-M/Kgp, DU, BHU among 20 to be awarded 'Institutes-of-Eminence' tag
The University Grants Commission (UGC) has recommended 20 institutions, including the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) of Madras and Kharagpur, University of Hyderabad, Benaras Hindu University, University of Delhi, to be granted the Institute of Eminence (IoE) tag. Earlier, the UGC had suggested 30 institutes for the coveted tag, but had to condense the list to 20 on the Centre's direction.
IoE recommendation for Jadavpur, Anna subject to state government consultation
Apart from IIT-M, IIT-KGP, DU, BHU, and UoH, the UGC also picked Jadavpur University, and Anna University for the tag. However, the Ministry of Human Resource Development said that the Jadavpur and Anna Universities "can be considered for issue of the IoE status only after the respective state governments come out with an official communication allocating their share of the funds up to 50%."
Satya Bharti Foundation picked in controversial greenfield category
Additionally, private institutions including the Amrita Vidyapeetham, VIT Vellore, Jamia Hamdard, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, Shiv Nadar University and OP Jindal University have been recommended for the IoE tag. The Satya Bharti Foundation has been recommended in the greenfield category. Under this category, the government is "sponsoring organizations for setting up of new Institutions of Eminence," i.e., the institutions are not yet established.
AMU, Azim Premji among universities rejected for IoE
On the other side, many universities failed to qualify for IoE status as they don't feature in global or national rankings, the ministry said. These include Aligarh Muslim University, Ashoka University, Azim Premji University, Tezpur University, Punjab University, Andhra University and the IIPH. The ministry used the QS-2019 India rankings, annual university rankings by British education company Quacquarelli Symonds, to pick institutions.
What does the 'Institute of Eminence' status mean?
Notably, the IoE scheme was launched by the HRD Ministry in 2017 with the aim to develop world-class institutions. The ministry-appointed Empowered Expert Committee select 10 public and 10 private institutions for the scheme, which would be offered complete administrative and academic autonomy. The government will provide special funding for the public institutes, however, the private ones would only be entitled to more autonomy.
IIT-D, IIT-B, Jio Institute named 'Institutes of Eminence' last year
Last year, IIT-Delhi, IIT-Bombay and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru, were granted IoE status by the government. In the private sector, the Manipal Academy of Higher Education and BITS Pilani also earned themselves the IoE status. And who could forget the controversial greenfield category, the previously unheard of Jio Institute by Reliance Foundation's ticket to IoE status.
