Earlier this month when the government announced the NIRF rankings, HRD ministry announced that all public higher education institutes must be a part of National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) or face penalty. On April 3, the ministry had unveiled a list ranking top higher education institutes across various categories. The institutes to top the list were Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and IISc-Bangaluru as the top institutes in various categories.
At the launch of NIRF, Higher Education Secretary, R Subrahmanyam, said “For the public institutions that have been receiving grants from the government, participation is mandatory this year onwards.” He further added, “These rankings will bring transparency to the education system as the institutes are funded by the public. It will also increase the level of competition among them.”
“It has been agreed that public funded institutes that take grants and not take part in NIRF, will henceforth face some sort of penalty or fund cuts. Since the public is paying for them, they owe a responsibility,” told the secretary, adding that HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar has given a go-ahead to the decision.
