The government on Tuesday unveiled the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) for annually ranking engineering and management institutes. The framework takes into account placement, entrepreneurship, compensation package, research activity and inclusiveness through reservation, among others.
NIRF will broadly cover all institutes in government and private sectors. Participation is not mandatory. The first ranking list will be released in early April next year.
The framework for pharmacy, architecture and other universities will be released next month.
Before the next academic year, we will manage to give our students a plethora of choices on the basis of the national framework which is very transparent. It will engage not only institutes and regulators but the citizens at large.
— Smriti Irani, Minister, Human Resource Development
The ranking list will be prepared by an agency which will function along the lines of the National Board of Accreditation (NBA). An implementation committee will also be set up for the same.
The institutes will be ranked separately across disciplines and in category A and B, with extra weightage to category A institutes for teaching and research.
The parameters will include ‘outreach and inclusively’ with up to 20 marks going to institutes for adhering to reservation for economically and socially disadvantaged sections.
Private institutes could be at a disadvantage, as they are unlikely to fulfil this parameter. Reservations are not strictly binding on them.
The India-specific ranking is being seen as an answer to global ranking agencies where Indian varsities and institutes, including the IITs, have never been able to make the cut.
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