IITs Are Instructed To Develop A Plan Of Action To Raise Rankings

The Human Resource and Development (HRD) Ministry directed the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) to come up with an action plan in order to improve its national and international rankings.

A Senior HRD Ministry official says that Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal “Nishank” brought up the matter during the IIT council meeting. The recommendation was presented to the council, the 23 IITs” top decision-making body.

Each IIT will develop a plan of action to enhance performance in global rankings, like Times Higher Education (THE) and the QS (Quacquarelli Symonds). QS and THE are two recognised international polls on higher education.

Leading western universities, like MIT and Oxford University, continue to occupy the top spots on the list of the top 100 universities. Still, not a single Indian institution, not even the most renowned IITs or Indian Institute of Science (IISc), has been able to secure a spot in the top 100. However, the esteemed QS global university ranking placed three Indian Institutes—IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, and IISc Bangalore—among the top 200.

The HRD Ministry has also requested a review conference with QS experts to determine the reason why Indian universities—like JNU and Hyderabad University—were not included in the top list.

HRD Ministry also brings its own national ranking annually based on the National Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF).

Notice that IITs are funded by the Human Resources and Development (HRD) Ministry and the HRD Minister is the chairperson of IIT council. Ministry takes initiatives from time to time in partnership with IITs. Some of the major initiatives include Design Manifesto, Green Policy and SandhHi Initiatives and TEQIP Conclave of Educators.