According to the National Institutional Rankings Framework (NIRF) 2024, which was announced by the Union Ministry of Education on Monday, six educational institutions—including three government-owned ones from Punjab—are ranked in the top 100 in the overall category. Private universities in Punjab have taken the top three spots.
The top-ranked university in Punjab, Chandigarh University, Mohali, came in at number 32 in the overall category. Owner of the university is Satnam Singh Sandhu, an educationist who joined the BJP and was a Rajya Sabha nominee earlier this year.
The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Ropar took first place in Punjab in 2023; however, it now ranks 48th in the overall category, a 15-spot drop. It was ranked 33 the previous year.
The second spot has been bagged by Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala (Deemed-to-be university), also a private institution. Thapar Institute has been ranked at 43, followed by Lovely Professional University (LPU) ranked at 45. LPU too is a private university in Phagwara whose founder-cum-owner Ashok Mittal was nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the Aam Aadmi Party.
Two other institutes in the top 100 from Punjab are Indian Institute of Science and Research (IISER), Mohali, with 64th rank and Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, with 80th rank in overall category.
Five broad generic groupings of parameters—teaching, learning, and resources (TLR), research and professional practice (RP), graduation outcomes (GO), outreach and inclusion (OI), and perception—are used by the NIRF to evaluate institutions (PR). Based on the overall sum of the marks given for each of these five major categories of characteristics, ranks are determined.
Two state-run universities, Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) in Amritsar and Dr. BR Ambedkar National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Jalandhar, made it to the top 100 last year but did not make it this time.
NIT-Jalandhar, ranked 72 last year, has been placed in the combined rank band of 101-150 this year while GNDU did not participate this year, according to the list uploaded by the ministry.
Three other institutes from Punjab — Central University of Punjab (Bathinda), Chitkara University (Rajpura) and Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering and Technology (Longowal) — have also been placed in the rank-band of 100-150.
Private universities gain, govt ones slip
Both CU and LPU have improved their rankings compared to last year. CU Mohali was ranked 45 last year while this year it has climbed up by 13 notches bagging 32d rank. LPU improved its rank from 46 to 45. However, Thapar Institute, Patiala, slipped by three notches from 40 to 43. Among government institutes from Punjab, not just IIT-Ropar but also IISER-Mohali has slipped down by several notches. It has ranked 64 compared to 51 last year.
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Source: The Indian Express
