At least 15 higher educational institutions, including the Utkal University, are aiming to figure among top 100 institutions in the India Rankings this year.
As the selection process for top 100 educational institutions in the India Rankings 2018 has begun by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) of the Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry, there is a possibility for any of the State-run universities to get a place in the list.
A few universities have withdrawn from the selection process as they failed to meet all the criteria set by the HRD Ministry. Like previous year, the State’s private educational institutions have too signed off in any bid to find a place in the top-100 list.
Following severe criticism for not applying for India Rankings in 2016 and 2017, the State-run universities have been asked by the State Higher Education Department to take an early initiative to join the race this year. Sources, however, said that the State-run engineering colleges have failed to apply for the rankings this year. Only the national educational institutions like IIT and NIT in Odisha have enrolled with a hope to get better rank in the top-100 list this year.
Although there are over 200 engineering colleges, management institutions and pharmacy colleges in Odisha, a few of them have applied for the top-100 run. The private educational institutions, which were figured among top colleges, aim to repeat their achievement in the list.
The results of top-100 list will be out in April. The rankings will be made on the basis of infrastructure and numbers of teachers, students, placements and students’ pass out, subjects studied in the institutions, MPhil and PhD programmes of the institutions.