HRD grants Institutions of Eminence status to six public, private institutes

new delhi — The HRD Ministry on Monday granted ‘Institutions of Eminence’ status to three public and three private institutes, enabling them to get full autonomy and special incentives to project them as “world class universities”.

While the Human Resource Development Ministry will grant Rs10 billion funds to the three public institutions in the next five years, the private institutes, however, will not be eligible for government funding.

The government granted “Institutions of Eminence” (IoEs) status to IIT-Delhi, IIT-Bombay and the Bengaluru-based Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in the public sector, and Manipal Academy of Higher Education, BITS Pillani and Jio Institute by Reliance Foundation in the private sector.

The move is part of a scheme of

the HRD Ministry to select 20 IoEs — 10 public and 10 private — that will enjoy complete academic and administrative autonomy.

However, the Empowered Expert Committee (EEC) headed by former chief election commissioner N Gopalaswami picked six institutions that, according to the panel, showed the potential to find a place among top 500 of global rankings.

Unlike other institutions, IoEs will get greater autonomy to start new courses, admit foreign students,

hire foreign faculty, and collaborate with foreign educational institutions without the need for government approval.

“The# Institute of Eminence are important for the country. We have 800 univ, but not a single university in top 100 or even 200 in the world ranking. Today’s decision will help achieve this. Improving ranking needs sustained planning, complete freedom & public institutes getting public funding (sic),” HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar tweeted. —