The Union Ministry of Human Resource Development took a prominent step at tagging institutes across the length and breadth of India with the ‘Institute of Eminence’. On this new declaration made on Thursday, 5th September, a few universities have been granted the status of eminence keeping in mind a few things that would help these institutes in certain cases.
The five universities tagged with the ‘Institute of Eminence’ are; Indian Institute of Technology Madras, University of Delhi, Banaras Hindu University, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur and University of Hyderabad. University Grants Commission (UGC) along with an expert panel made the recommendations for the institutes to be awarded the tag.
Several Private universities such as, Vellore Institute of Technology, Jamia Hamdard University, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology Odisha and Bharti Institute Satya Bharti Foundation, have also been issued Letters of Intent to grant them the status. After the University Grants Commission had recommended the eminence tag last year, Ministry obliged to the step on Wednesday.
The path to earning the desired status includes, signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry and provide them with an insight to the institutes upcoming plans of development. The public institutions assorted on the list will be eligible for Government grant of Rs.1000 crore.
Anna University in Tamil Nadu and Jadavpur University of West Bengal have also been recommended by UGC but the state governments are required to contribute half of the funds for their respective universities first. Among other universities, Shiv Nadar University and OP Jindal University of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana Assemblies are to pass legislation to end the private university status before they could be awarded with ‘Institute of Eminence’ status at hand.
