NEW DELHI: A high level committee constituted by the Centre to choose ‘Institutes of Eminence’ is now assessing the “progress” six institutes have made after receiving the coveted IOE tag last year.In July, 2018 the IOE status had been conferred upon the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, and Indian Institutes of Technology in Bombay and Delhi.
The private institutes to get the tag included Manipal University, BITS, Pilani and yet to be started Jio Institute. The selection of Ambani Foundation’s on-paper Jio institute had caused a major uproar and the move was seen as a way of exempting the proposed institution from regulatory processes .
“Since one of the major goals of the scheme is to push the chosen academies high on the World University Ranking list-it was necessary to assess if there have been any improvements,” a senior HRD ministry official said.
Much to the relief of the government, in the QS world rankings of the higher education institutes globally IISc has gone up by 20 ranks in 2019- as compared to 2018 when it was at 170th position.IIT Bombay too has improved its rank and now stands at number 162 as compared to number 179. IIT, Delhi at number 170 has retained its rank. Another official in the ministry, however, conceded that these changes are not because of the IOE status and are reflection of consistent efforts over the years.