Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) issued orders to five higher education institutes conveying their declaration as Institutions of Eminence (IoE). The development comes on advice of higher education regulator University Grants Commission (UGC) and an Empowered Expert Committee (EEC) appointed by the Government under the chairmanship of N Gopalaswami to choose 10 public and 10 private IoEs. The institutes which have been declared as IoEs today include IIT Madras, Banaras Hindu University, IIT Kharagpur, University of Delhi and University of Hyderabad.
The Ministry also issued letter of intent to Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Vellore Institute of Tech (both from Tamil Nadu), Jamia Hamdard (Delhi), Kalinga Institute Of Industrial Tech (Odisha) and Bharti Institute Satya Bharti Foundation (Mohali) for sending their preparedness for being declared as IoEs, reported ANI.
In regard to Jadavpur University (West Bengal) and Anna University (Tamil Nadu), two state universities which were also selected by the empowered committee to be declared as IoEs, state governments have been asked to indicate their commitment towards their contribution under the IoE scheme.
Delhi University has been included in the list of five institutions which are given IoE status.
"Orders have been issued to five public institutions including IIT-Madras, IIT-Kharagpur, DU and University of Hyderabad, declaring them as IoEs," Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank said.
"Letter of Intent for granting the IoE status have been issued to five private universities including Amrita Vidyapeetham, Tamil Nadu; Jamia Hamdard University; Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, Odisha; and Bharti Institute, Mohali," he added.
The selection panel had also recommended names of Shiv Nadar University in Noida and OP Jindal University in Sonipat.
"Letters have been issued to Haryana and UP government to pass a legislation in the state assembly to cease the status of these universities as private universities under the state and as to enable them to be considered as IoE deemed universities," he said.
The UGC, it its 542nd meeting held in August first week considered the reports of the EEC recommending 15 public institutions and 15 private institutions for considering to give status of IoE.
Since the scheme has only provided for 10 public and 10 private institutions, the UGC examined the list and recommended 20 institutes - 10 public and 10 private - for the IoE status.
"Till date, we have 16 institutions as IoEs, apart from which another 4 institutions where state government's confirmation and commitment is awaited," Mr Nishank said.
Accoridng to the scheme, Rs. 1000 cr. grant will be given to public institutions and no funds will be given to private institutions under Institute of Eminence tag. The IoEs will also not be subjected to inspection by the UGC.
Last year, the government had granted the IoE status to IIT-Delhi, IIT-Bombay and the Bengaluru-based Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in the public sector, and Manipal Academy of Higher Education and BITS Pilani in the private sector, while the Jio Institute by Reliance Foundation was given the tag in Greenfield category.
(With Input from Agencies)
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