Context: The Human Resource Development Ministry has awarded the status of Institute of Eminence to the IIT-Madras, the IIT-Kharagpur, Delhi University, Benares Hindu University and the University of Hyderabad.

Four private universities — the Vellore Institute of Technology, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Jamia Hamdard University and the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology — were issued Letters of Intent to grant them the status. The new greenfield Bharti Institute, a project of Airtel’s Satya Bharti Foundation, has also been issued the letter.

What next?

Each university will be required to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry, laying out its plan to achieve the objective of becoming a world-class institution.

The public institutions on the list will then be eligible for a government grant of ?1,000 crore.

What is Institutions of Eminence scheme?

The institutes of eminence scheme under the Union human resource development (HRD) ministry aims to project Indian institutes to global recognition.

The selected institutes will enjoy complete academic and administrative autonomy.

The selection shall be made through challenge method mode by the Empowered Expert Committee constituted for the purpose.

Eligibility: Only higher education institutions currently placed in the top 500 of global rankings or top 50 of the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) are eligible to apply for the eminence tag.

The private Institutions of Eminence can also come up as greenfield ventures-provided the sponsoring organisation submits a convincing perspective plan for 15 years.

Implications:

1. Institutions with the eminence tag would be allowed greater autonomy without having to report to the University Grants Commission (UGC).
2. They would be able to admit foreign students and recruit faculty from abroad, and follow a flexible course and fee structure to enable them to vault to the ranks of the top global institutions.

Need for world-class institutes:

India lacks world-class universities according to international rankings, and Indian academics, compared internationally, are rather poorly paid. Students also suffer an immense shortage of places in top academic institutions and throughout the higher education system. India today educates only half as many young people from the university age group as China and ranks well behind most Latin American and other middle-income countries.