Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, June 5: The National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) Rankings 2023 were released today by Minister of State for Education and External Affairs, Rajkumar Ranjan Singh. The rankings can be accessed on the official website of NIRF at nirfindia.org, reports India Today.
The latest rankings include four categories: Overall, Colleges, Universities, and Research Institutions The subject domains now consist of Engineering, Management, Pharmacy, Law, Medical, Architecture and Planning, Dental, and a new addition — Agriculture and Allied Sectors.
IIT Madras maintained its top position in both the overall and engineering categories last year.
Also, maintaining the order of the previous year, the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru has once again secured the top position among universities in the NIRF rankings 2023, while JNU and Jamia Millia Islamia follow in the second and third spots.
IISc Bangalore has also been recognised as the second-best institution in the ‘overall’ category.
“The aim (of the NIRF) was to improve the quality of higher education and help students make decisions,” said Anil Kumar Nassa, member secretary of NBA (National Board of Accreditation), which prepares the NIRF. He emphasised the expansion of categories from four to twelve, including eight subject-specific rankings in the 8th edition.
Highlighting the growing participation in the rankings, Nassa mentioned that in 2016, 3,500 institutes participated while 8,686 institutes took part this year.
Anil Sahasrabuddhe, Chairman of NBA, highlighted the significance of NIRF in comparison to global rankings. He stated, “When we look at world rankings, they have completely different parameters (from our ethos and culture) and that is why the government started NIRF.”
Sahasrabuddhe further added, “With 13 categories, this edition of NIRF is the largest in its scope to date.”
Referring to the Dr Radhakrishnan committee, set up by the education ministry to assess accreditation parameters, Sahasrabuddhe explained, “Data for all education institutions will be available at our fingertips. One nation one data underway.”
Sanjay Murthy, the higher education secretary of the Government of India, emphasised the importance of state participation in NIRF and sought support to increase participation from 8,600 to at least 15,000 in the next few years.
Murthy also emphasised the need for improving international rankings. (Courtesy: India Today)