JNU, Hyderabad Central University top varsity rankings

Jawaharlal Nehru University, which has been at the centre of a major row over alleged anti-national activities and the arrest of its student union president Kanhaiya Kumar, and Hyderabad Central University, rocked by protests after the suicide of dalit scholar Rohith Vemula, are among the best universities in India, according to a first-ever survey of educational institutions commissioned by the Narendra Modi government.

The National Institutional Ranking Frame-work, covering 3,500 institutes in four categories, put IIT Madras and IIM Bangalore at the top among technological and management institutions respectively. In the technological institutions category, IIT Mumbai was placed second, followed by IIT Kharagpur, IIT Delhi and IIT Kanpur.

The Manipal College of Pharmacy was ahead of others in the pharmacy education category. The NIRF was released Monday by HRD minister Smriti Irani and ranks institutes in the categories of university, engineering, management and pharmacy.

In the universities category, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore (a deemed university) was rated the top-ranked institute, followed by Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai. While JNU has been placed at third rank, Hyderabad Central University got the fourth rank in the university category. Among management institutes, IIM Bangalore leads the pack, followed by IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Kolkata and IIM Lucknow.

A committee of experts has evolved the ranking based on parameters like perception among students, alumni, parents, employees and the public, apart from teaching and learning resources, graduation outcomes and research.

The HRD minister said efforts were on to make this ranking system an annual affair, and that more categories would be added later.

HRD minister Smriti Irani said the university rankings system would be expanded in the coming years with more data about the institutes so that students would be better informed before seeking admission.

In the universities category, Tezpur University, which recently won the President’s award, was placed fifth, while Delhi University was sixth, BHU Varanasi ranked seventh. The Thiruvanathapuram-based Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology was ranked eighth while Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, stood ninth and AMU was ranked 10th.

Among engineering institutes, all 10 places were occupied by IITs, with IIT Roorkee placed sixth, IIT Hyderabad seventh, IIT Gandhinagar eighth, IIT Ropar-Rupnagar ninth and IIT Patna 10th.

In the management category, IIMs bagged the top six slots with IIM Bangalore, followed by IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Kolkata, IIM Lucknow, IIM Udaipur and IIM Kozhikode. Among other institutions, IMI New Delhi was the highest ranked, at seventh place, with Indian Institute of Forest Management ranked eighth, Department of Mangement Studies, IIT Kanpur (ninth) and IIM Indore (10th).

Among pharmaceutical institutes, the University Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chandigarh, was placed second, Jamia Hamdard third, Poona College of Pharmacy, Erandwane, fourth, Institute of Pharmacy, Nirma University, fifth, while the Bombay College of Pharmacy, Mumbai, was sixth. Birla Institute of Technology, Ranchi, canme seventh in this category, while Amrita School of Pharmacy, Kochi, ranked eighth, JSS College of Pharmacy, Ootacamund, was ninth and JSS College of Pharmacy, Mysuru, came 10th.