K'taka: State, deemed universities shine in NIRF ranking

Though Institutes of National Importance (INIs) continued to dominate the top positions in the rankings of the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), which were released by the minister of education on Monday, the data from rankings show that state universities, as well as deemed-to-be universities, are coming up better.

While 36 INIs were placed in the top 100 in the NIRF rankings, 26 state universities and 24 deemed-to-be universities were ranked as well. There were seven central universities as well. There were 38 deemed-to-be universities among the top 100 universities in India, and 31 state universities. Among the top 100 were also 12 Central universities and 19 private universities.

UGC chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar said that one must keep in mind that the total number of central universities in India continues to remain small. “State universities have come up well, as well as deemed-to-be universities. This signals the potential of state universities in India. Deemed-to-be universities have gained momentum in quality in the university category, followed by private universities,” Kumar said.

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Among the engineering and medical colleges, too, while INIs continued their presence, deemed-to-be universities showed potential. In the top 100 engineering institutes, in addition to 53 INIs like IITs and NIITs, there were 21 deemed universities and 13 private universities. In the top 50 medical colleges, there were 17 state universities and 13 private universities, as well as 10 INIs.

“State universities top in medical education, more than any other category of universities. This is followed by private universities. This signals a healthy co-existence among different kinds of universities,” Kumar said. “Among engineering colleges, there is a substantial representation of deemed universities. There is a significant presence of private universities, too. As against general belief, state universities also have a strong presence in engineering education.”