The HRD Ministry on Thursday awarded the Institution of Eminence (IoE) status to the Delhi University, Banaras Hindu University, University of Hyderabad, IIT-Madras and IIT-Kharagpur.
The decision to grant the IoE status to the five public institutes was taken following a recommendation by the University Grants Commission (UGC) last month.
"Orders have been issued to five public institutions, including IIT-Madras, IIT-Kharagpur, DU and University of Hyderabad, declaring them as Institutions of Eminence," HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank said.
A Letter of Intent for granting the IoE status has been issued to five private universities -- Amrita Vidyapeetham and Vellore Institute of Technology in Tamil Nadu, Odhisha's Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, Jamia Hamdard University in Delhi and Satya Bharti Foundation's Bharti Instiute in Mohali.
These institutions will be required to submit their readiness for commencing academic operations as IoEs, Nishak said.
The selection panel had also recommended names of Shiv Nadar University in Noida and OP Jindal University in Sonipat.
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"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.
Similarly, governments of West Bengal and Tamil Nadu have been asked to indicate their commitment towards contribution to Jadavpur University and Anna University to enable them to have the IoE tag.
"They will be considered for issue of the IoE status only after the respective state governments have issued an official communication allocating their share of the funds up to 50 per cent," the minister said.
Among the universities that failed to make a cut are Aligarh Muslim University, Ashoka University, Azim Premji University, Tezpur University, Punjab university, Andhra University and Indian Institute of Public Health in Gandhinagar.
The move is part of a scheme of the HRD Ministry announced last year to select 20 IoEs -- 10 public and 10 private -- that will enjoy complete academic and administrative autonomy.
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.
"Till date, we have 16 institutions as IoEs, apart from which another 4 institutions where state government's confirmation and commitment is awaited," Nishank said.
While the government will provide funding upto Rs 1,000 crore to public institutions with IoE tag, in case of the private institutions proposed as Institutions of Eminence, there will be no financial support, but they will be entitled for more autonomy as a special category Deemed University. The IoEs will also not be subjected to inspection by the UGC.
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