NIRF rankings: Mumbai University slides to 151-200 band

The NIRF does not release in the public domain the ranks of educational institutions that do not figure among the first 100. Institutions ranked after 100 are put in bands —- such as 101-150 and 151-200.

The chaos in the administration of Mumbai University last year over an unprecedented delay in declaration of results could have led to the fall in ranking, said officials.

Radha Shrinivasan, co-ordinator of the Internal Quality Assurance Cell, said: “Last year, departments and faculty members were engrossed in assessment work. So data from many major departments could not be compiled on time to be sent for NIRF. That could have made a big difference in the ranking.”

The NIRF is an initiative of the MHRD to rank educational institutes across the country based on teaching standards, research work, placements and outreach programmes, among other parameters.

The University of Mumbai does not have accreditation from the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) as it failed to apply for reaccreditation on time. Having lost the Grade A, which defines the quality of the institute based on its performance, curriculum, evaluation, faculty and infrastructure, the varsity is ineligible for grants from the UGC.

“Now our focus is on NAAC. We are applying for re-accreditation this year in June. It is more coordinated and once we have the accreditation, we will have a streamlined database,” Shrinivasan said. The university’s NAAC ratings fell from 5-star (an equivalent of A++ now) within a span of 10 years to Grade A.

Reacting to the NIRF ranking, economist and former Vice-Chancellor of MU Bhalchandra Mungekar said, “This is pathetic and beyond comprehension. It brings to light the administrative incompetence and the functioning of the university.”

Another former V-C Rajan Velukar said the ranking slipped owing to lack of continuity in leadership. “The university’s ranking falling further is sad. The leadership has changed so often that there is no continuity. This affects the development of the university,” he said.

Several other institutes have moved up a few ranks ahead in this year’s list. Savitribai Phule Pune University has scaled up to feature among the top 10 universities of the country at Number 9 in NIRF. The Institute of Chemical Technology has raced six places ahead since 2017 to be ranked at Number 19 on NIRF.

The Tata Institute of Social Sciences is ranked 32nd on the list, a drop from its 31st rank last year. The Homi Bhabha National Institute also lost five places and featured at Number 26.

The Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, featured in the top five in three categories of NIRF. In the overall category the institute secured the third position and second in the engineering colleges’ category. In the management colleges category, IIT-B is the fifth best in the country according to NIRF.