The University Grants Commission released its new list of institutes that are recommended for the Institutions of Eminence status. While only six institutes (both public and private) made it to the list last year, the current list has 20 institutes - 10 public and 10 private.
While Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Bengaluru, VIT Vellore, Jamia Hamdard, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, OP Jindal University, Shiv Nadar University and Satya Bharti Foundation are the latest additions in the list of private institutions, BITS Pilani, Rajasthan, Manipal Academy of Higher Education and the controversial Jio Institute retained their positions.
Institutions that did not make the cut, though considered for the tag included Azim Premji University, KREA University and Ashoka University. "The criteria was simple. If they were not on either national ot international rankings then they were not considered," said an MHRD official.
In the public institution category, two more IITs made it to the list this year - IIT Madras and IIT Kharagpur. The other new additions are Delhi University, University of Hyderabad and BHU Varanasi. IIT Delhi, IIT Bombay and IISc Bangalore retained their positions.
Notable amongst those who did not make the cut are Aligarh Muslim University, Anna University, Jadavpur University, Andhra University, Panjab University and Tezpur University. Of these, Jadavpur and Anna Universities will only be considered after consultation with the state governments and a committmment about their funding model.
The Institutions of Eminence was announced by the Union Finance Ministry in the 2016 budget speech, to implement the commitment of the Government to empower the Higher Educational Institutions and to help them become world class teaching and research institutions. The UGC says that the objectives of these institutions are to provide high quality education and research. "Ten public and ten private institutions are to be identified to emerge as world-class Teaching and Research Institutions. This will enhance affordable access to high quality education for ordinary Indians," says the UGC website.
These institutes will be awarded financial assistance of Rs 1000 crore or 50 per cent to 75 per cenr of the requirement projected by the institution in the proposal, whichever is less. They also enjoy a number of incentives which includes the freedom to decide the fee and the structure of new courses.
