Institutes of Eminence

Institutes of Eminence (IoE) is a recognition scheme for higher education institutes in India, set by the University Grants Commission in 2017. The plan encompasses twenty institutions, 16 of which have already been declared Institutes of Eminence as of August 2019. Recognised institutes are granted more autonomy, both administratively (e.g. setting fees) and academically, and will enjoy better collaboration opportunities with global universities. Public institutions are granted up to ₹1,000 crore (equivalent to ₹12 billion or US$160 million in 2019); no funding is awarded to private institutions.

Incentives of the scheme

The regulatory infrastructure for the Institutes of Eminence (IoE) plan was provided by the University Grants Commission (UGC) through the UGC (Declaration of Government Institutions as Institutions of Eminence) Guidelines, 2017[1] for public institutions and UGC (Institutions of Eminence Deemed to be Universities) Regulations, 2017[2] for private deemed to be university institutions. According to these, both categories of institutions are granted more autonomy, both administratively (e.g. setting fees) and academically, and both will enjoy better collaboration opportunities with global universities. Public institutions are also granted up to ₹1,000 crore (equivalent to ₹12 billion or US$160 million in 2019) but no funding is awarded to private institutions.[3]

History

The IoE scheme was first announced in the presentation of the 2016 Union budget of India on 29 February 2016 by the Finance Minister of India, Arun Jaitley.[4] The purpose of the plan was stated as "... to empower Higher Educational Institutions to help them become world class teaching and research institutions".[5] The plan will include twenty institutes, ten private and ten public.[5] The UGC set the guidelines and regulations for IoE in 2017[1][2] and set up an Empowered Expert Committee (EEC) which was tasked with the selection of the institutes and later with monitoring them.[6]

The EEC considered 114 applications, 74 from public institutes and 40 from private ones, including institutes which are yet to be established, and in May 2018 shortlisted eight public institutes and three private ones.[7] However, on the principle of giving equal weight to both categories of institutions,[6] only six institutes were recommended by the UGC in July 2018, three from each category,[5] a move which has drawn some criticism.[7] More criticism was drawn to the fact that one of the private institutes recommended, Jio Institute, which was sponsored by Reliance Foundation, does not yet exist.[8] The recommendation of the UGC was accepted by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD).[9]

In December 2018, the EEC recommended 19 more institutes, completing a list of 15 institutes from each category, allowing for five institutes in each category in a reserve list.[6] These institutes were ranked by the UGC based on QS World University Rankings, in which National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) was used as a tie-breaker for private universities. The resulting 14 institutes, seven in each category, were recommended by the UGC for IoE status in August 2019.[9] This included two public institutes, Anna University and Jadavpur University, which will be considered for IoE status only if the respective state universities will comment to finance half of the investment. For private institutes, since not enough institutes were ranked, one vacant position was granted in the "greenfield" category, which gives the institute three years to operationalise the institution, after which the EEC will consider giving them the IoE status.[10] This move again drew some controversy.[11] In September 2019, the MHRD awarded IoE status to an additional five public institutes, four existing private institutes, and another private institute in the greenfield category.[12] Two private universities, Shiv Nadar University and O. P. Jindal Global University, required state legislation to end the existing private university status, in order to be declared IoE Deemed Universities.[12] In October 2020, O. P. Jindal Global University having met the legislation requirements, it was conferred the IoE status.[13]

List of institutes

As of August 2019, the ten public institutes selected are:[9]

Name LocationStatus[9][12]
Banaras Hindu University Varanasi, Uttar PradeshDeclared
Indian Institute of Science Bengaluru, KarnatakaDeclared
Indian Institute of Technology Bombay Mumbai, MaharashtraDeclared
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi New DelhiDeclared
Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur Kharagpur, West BengalDeclared
Indian Institute of Technology Madras Chennai, Tamil NaduDeclared
University of Delhi New DelhiDeclared
University of Hyderabad Hyderabad, TelanganaDeclared
Anna University Chennai, Tamil NaduAction needed
Jadavpur University Kolkata, West BengalAction needed

The ten private institutes are:

Name LocationStatus[9][12]
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham Coimbatore, Tamil NaduGiven Letter of Intent
Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani Pilani, RajasthanGiven Letter of Intent
Jamia Hamdard DelhiGiven Letter of Intent
Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology Bhubaneswar, OdishaGiven Letter of Intent
Manipal Academy of Higher Education Manipal, KarnatakaGiven Letter of Intent
Vellore Institute of Technology Vellore, Tamil NaduGiven Letter of Intent
Satya Bharti University (sponsored by Bharti Foundation) HaryanaGiven Letter of Intent, greenfield
Jio Institute (sponsored by Reliance Foundation) MaharashtraGiven Letter of Intent, greenfield
Shiv Nadar University Greater Noida, Uttar PradeshAction needed
O. P. Jindal Global University Sonipat, HaryanaDeclared[13]

See also

References
  1. "UGC (Declaration of Government Institutions as Institutions of Eminence) Guidelines, 2017" (PDF). University Grants Commission. 7 September 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  2. "UGC (Institutions of Eminence Deemed to be Universities) Regulations, 2017" (PDF). The Gazette of India. 29 August 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  3. Nanda, Prashant K. (10 July 2018). "IISc, 2 IITs among 6 in govt's 'institutes of eminence' list". LiveMint. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  4. Sharma, Yojana (1 March 2016). "Budget proposes creation of 20 world-class universities". University World News. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  5. "Government declares 6 educational 'Institutions of Eminence' ; 3 Institutions from Public Sector and 3 from Private Sector shortlisted". pib.gov.in (Press release). Ministry of Human Resource Development. 9 July 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  6. "Press note" (PDF). pib.gov.in (Press release). Ministry of Human Resource Development. 7 December 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  7. Mannan, S. Mannar (12 July 2018). "Anna University, IIT-M were among institutes listed for IOE tag". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  8. "Jio Institute: HRD ministry issues clarification after 'Institution of Eminence' tag to Jio Institute". The Times of India. 10 July 2019. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  9. "20 Institution recommended for status of 'Institutions of Eminence'". pib.gov.in (Press release). Ministry of Human Resource Development. 2 August 2019. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  10. "Good news! UGC recommends Institution of Eminence status to DU, IIT Madras and other universities". India Today. 3 August 2019. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  11. Niazi, Shuriah (9 August 2019). "Fourteen more universities named Institutes of Eminence". University World News. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  12. "IIT-Madras, Delhi University, three others get Institution of Eminence status". The Hindu. 5 September 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  13. "OP Jindal University conferred 'eminence' tag by Centre". The New Indian Express. 30 October 2020. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
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