India might have seen an influx of private educational institutions over the past few years, but government institutions still rule the rankings. Things were no different when the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2021 was released on September 9. A whopping 74 per cent of the top educational institutions in India, according to these rankings, are run by the government.

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who released the NIRF 2021 along with the three Minister of State, said that he would like to see more private institutes excel and that he would like to see more private institutions on this list. There should be private Institutes of Eminences as well, said the minister. But his wish was not fulfilled this time because only 26 of the 100 universities and institutions named in the overall list were privately owned. 

The distribution of these private institutions and universities across ranks is also interesting. While none of the features in the top 10, only two feature in the top 20 and only 10 are on the top 50 list. But from here the concentration changes and 16 of the institutes and varsities ranked from 51 to 100 are private. The private universities have often complained of the government does not give them enough benefits — financially or otherwise — for them to prosper, but the government has not directly addressed it yet. Will Pradhan and the NEP rollout change the narrative?

Like every other event for the past two years, this too was revealed online on various video and social media platforms. The NIRF ranks education institutes and universities all over India across several parameters including teaching, learning and resources, research and professional practices, graduation outcome outreach and inclusivity, and perception.