The Central Government in July 2018 awarded the Institutes of Eminence (IoE) status to six educational institutions—IIT Delhi, IIT Bombay, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani, Manipal Academy of High Education and Reliance Foundation proposed by Jio Institute. After the listing, the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) faced enough backlash from various institutes and students across. In the recent, IIT Madras wrote to HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar expressing their “deep disappointment” for not being selected among the six IoEs, despite a recommendation from the UGC-mandated panel chosen. IIT Bombay Tops QS Rankings of Indian Institutions; IISc Bengaluru & IIT Madras Bagged Second & Third Spots. 

According to The Indian Express, industrialist and IIT Madras chairman Pawan Goenka is speculated to have conveyed the concerns of the Board of Governors (BoG) to Javadekar. The Empowered Expert Committee (EEC) was delegated by the UGC to find 20 IoEs out of 114 applications. Later, the EEC has recommended 11 institutions for ‘eminence’ status. In that order, IISc, IIT Madras, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, Delhi University, Jadavpur University and Anna University were recommended. BITS Pilani, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) and Reliance Foundation’s proposed Jio Institute were advised under the private category. IIT Madras Student Commits Suicide for Poor Attendance; Hangs Himself From the Ceiling Fan. 

However, at the final listing, UGC forwarded only six names—three public and three privates. The report further stated that Goenka has informed Javadekar that BoG was surprised that the commission used rankings by a commercial agency to select only three in public institutes from the EEC list. For three consecutive years, IIT Madras has been evaluated as the country’s best engineering institute by the National Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF). In the overall ranking across disciplines, IIT Madras stood second in 2017 and 2018 behind IISc. Goenka mentioned IIT Madras’s performance in the letter and described UGC’s decision as ‘unfortunate’. Jio Institute Gets ‘Institution of Eminence’ Tag! Here's the Reason Why Government Selected It Even Before Its Establishment. 

After the IoE announcement, many public institutes were rumoured for being unhappy about the selection procedure. In fact, the inclusion of Jio Institute majorly criticised on social media, asking Javadekar about the institute’s location and credentials. Among the disappointed institutes, IIT Madras is the first to put the same on record.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 24, 2018 12:57 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).