Mumbai University loses out on HRD rankings

The lethargy of the University of Mumbai (MU) officials has resulted in the university not finding a mention in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) released by the HRD ministry on Monday. The ranking issued in four categories namely engineering, management, universities and pharmacy saw the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B), SP Jain Institute of Management, Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT) and Bombay School of Pharmacy find a place in the top 25 institutions in their respective categories. Officials from MU said that the university was not able to participate in the rankings as the time available for submitting exhaustive details was too short.

According to the rankings that listed only the top 25 institutions in their respective categories, IIT-B, with a weighted score of 87.67, was ranked second behind IIT-Delhi that topped the list of engineering colleges with a weighted score of 89.42.

In the management category, SP Jain Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai, with a weighted score of 74.6, earned the 16th spot behind the Indian Institutes of Management in the country that took the top seven spots.

In the Universities category, the ICT which was part of the MU till 2002 and became autonomous after that earned the second spot with a weighted score of 87.58 behind Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru that took the top spot with a weighted score of 91.81. Homi Bhabha National Institute also from Mumbai earned the 17th spot with a weighted score of 72.09 in the same category.

In the pharmacy category, Bombay School of Pharmacy earned the sixth rank with a weighted score of 69.49.

The NIRF ranking of institutions was based on five broad generic parameters —teaching, learning and resources; research, consulting and collaborative performance; graduation outcome; outreach and inclusivity; and perception.

Speaking about the absence of MU from the NIRF rankings after it was rated as the top university in the BRICS Asia University ranking of 2015, an official said that the university did not participate in the rankings. “The HRD ministry had asked for three years’ data to be submitted online. Due to paucity of time and unavailability of ready data, the University decided not to participate in the rankings at all,” said the official. Incidentally, some of the data sought by the NIRF is the same that every university and its departments has to proactively declare under the Right To Information (RTI) Act regularly.

Dr M.A. Khan, registrar, MU said, “The University was not able to submit the required data in the stipulated time and hence did not participate in the ranking.”