institute of eminence Archives - DU Beat - Delhi University's Independent Student Newspaper

DU will receive INR 100 crore grant from the government for achieving IoE status and aims to raise the equivalent amount on its own.

In September 2019, the University of Delhi was awarded the status of Institute of Eminence (IoE) by the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) on the recommendation of the University Grants Commission (UGC). In order to meet the requirements of the same, the university has launched the ‘Endowment Fund of the Delhi University’ which aims to raise INR 100 crore over a period of five years and has also encouraged alumni to invest in sectors of their choice, which may range from building to research funds.

This tag allows the University a grant of INR 100 crore from the government over five years and aims to raise the same amount on its own as well. The varsity states that the funds will be, “100% tax exemption and has no restriction on the amount of contribution. The donor can choose the area in which his/her contribution should be utilised. The information on the utilisation of funds will be displayed on the university website and 50 per cent of the funds earmarked for girl students. There also will be a compulsory audit of the endowment by the Controller and Auditor General (CAG) of India.”

According to a circular signed by the Vice-Chancellor, Yogesh Tyagi, the University is currently in the top 500 universities globally according to QS World University Ranking and is aiming to be in top 100 over the next 10 years. However, it lacks new institutions in the field. “To help our students and faculty attain academic excellence, the University would like to provide them with the necessary support, including the best and most modern research facilities and educational infrastructure”, further states the circular.

The letter also suggests, “It will provide opportunities and facilities to enhance the quality of teaching and research and to attract talent from outside the University and make them stakeholders in our growth story. This enterprise will ultimately lead to the University’s role and contribution to the nation-building and to scale greater heights in the global rankings.”

The University is yet to sign an agreement with the Ministry, under which it will lay out the plan to achieve the status of a world-class institution. Public institutions with IoE status are eligible for a government grant of INR 1000 crores. Upon getting the IoE status, DU will have complete academic, administrative and financial autonomy to spend the resources it raises and is allocated.

Recently Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IITD) also launched a global endowment fund of INR 250 crore in presence of President Ram Nath Kovind by 10 founder alumni members. The University states that the fund will be utilised for “each one teach one” providing a student aid of INR 10000 to each student to facilitate their education.

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Aditi Gutgutia
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As An Institute of Eminence, Will This Be DU’s Institutional Decadence?

By Shivani Dadhwal October 20, 2019

The status of Eminence raises apprehensions towards the future and functioning of Delhi University (DU) under the threats of disintegration, privatization and excessive surveillance.

Just a month after the University of Delhi (DU) along with four other institutes, IIT Madras, IIT Kharagpur, Banaras Hindi University and Hyderabad University, was granted the status of Institute of Eminence (IoE) with the objective of achieving the stature of world class institute. The next step in ensuring this initiative was the signing of the trilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the University of Delhi, the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the Ministry of Human Resource & Development (MHRD), which was duly completed the previous day.

But this further aggravates the skepticism regarding the University getting under the purview of an irrevocable authorization which substantially raises concerns of disintegration, excessive surveillance and privatization of the University, in the name of ‘Autonomy’, ‘Eminence’ and ‘Increased Government Amenities’ in this status provided.

Further the implementation of the Draft New Education Policy (DNEP) timeline of 2020 in October 2019 itself by the University is concerning in itself, the timeline which has to do with the abolition of statutory bodies like Executive Council, Academic Council and Departmental Council / College Staff Council by the constitution of all powerful Board of Governors (BOGs).

This BOGs will also be unaccountable to the Academic Council or Executive Council and hence, will come directly under the Rashtriya Shiksha Aayog (RSA). To add on to this, the elected component will be terminated and will be replaced by nominated members from stakeholders, abroad the University with the provision of weeding out inconvenient element periodically.

The One Thousand Crore Rupees grant, which is to be sanctioned over a period of ten years from the Central government comes at an expense of new jurisdictions under the BOGs and their matters which will also be devoid of any critical scrutiny of Executive Council (EC), Academic Council (AC) and Finance Committee (FC). Interestingly, the IITs which are receiving grants under this scheme have till now received only Rs 48 crores in the last two years out of the total Rs 1000 crores sanctioned.

The crisis does not ends here, the creation of such a system under the status of Eminence, has severe repercussions for academia and academics as well. Apart from the BOG and RSA surveillance which will be left on its own terms of grants and maintenance very soon, this status will confine the parallel structure for DU when it is ought to receive the entire limelight and government patronage and expected reverse adulation.

The system will even make the institution appear as a worthless vestigial organ from which the government can turn its face anytime for its inevitable signing up MoUs with backed up private institutions to sustain itself. This autonomous parallel structure of Eminence will also legitimize the infiltration of faculties from outside the DU, by relegating the existing academics and professoriate to back benches or a second and third class citizenship in terms of employment and salary structure, as this all falls under the power of BOGs.

The BOGs will also have the power to decide differential salaries and individual compensation for its faculty within the same rank and scale, thereby cultivating an atmosphere of hegemony and prejudice. The variable pay structure and the non-accountability of the Board of Governors to Academic Council and Executive Council will turn this institution into a tyranny, with the Centre laden with the power.

Undoubtedly, the status of eminence can act as an instrument of decadence for the country’s prime public university, erasing the gap between the corporate funded educational institutions and government institutions that bear the charge of promotion of the marginalized communities.

It is even more disheartening to see that after hundred years of hard work, efforts and the ever growing prominence round the world, the status of Eminence rather than a helping tool of promotion & growth, is used to hinder the University’s growth, when the upliftment of young minds should be the government’s priority. It becomes really essential for the present authorities to stress on this matter and look for the most judicious alternative that suits the university, its students and faculty and administration themselves.

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Faizan Salik

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Campus Central

UGC Recommends Institute of Eminence Status to DU

By Anoushka Sharma August 3, 2019

The University of Delhi (DU) has been named among 19 other institutes for Institutions of Eminence (IoE) status in a list released by the University Grants Commission(UGC) on Friday, 2^nd August 2019. The University is ranked 474 in the world rankings (QS 2020) which is one of the highest rankings among central universities. The UGC has recommended 10 public and 10 private institutes for the Institutions of Eminence status.

The Institutions of Eminence scheme is aimed at developing 20 world class institutions which would put India on the global education map. The move allows greater academic, administrative and financial autonomy to the university. DU has consistently been among top rankings with. The University was ranked eighth this year.

The UGC, in its 542nd meeting held on 2nd August 2019 has considered the reports of the Empowered Expert Committee (EEC) appointed by the Government under the Chairmanship of Shri N Gopalaswami has recommended 15 public institutions and 15 private institutions to be considered for Institutions of Eminence. Since the scheme has only provided for 10 public and 10 private institutions, the UGC has examined the list of 15 public and 15 private institutions using ‘transparent and verifiable criteria’, according to the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD).

Institutes which are given IoE status from public category includes IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IISC Bangalore, IIT Madras, IIT Kharagpur, University of Hyderabad, and BHU and private institutes which are recommended for IoE status include BITS Pilani, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Jio Institute (Reliance Foundation, Maharashtra) ,O.P JINDAL University and Shiv Nadar University.

Last year, the Ministry had granted Institution of Eminence status to six educational institutions. It included three public and three private institutes including Reliance Foundation’s yet-to-be-built Jio Institute, which had created a wide debate in the country. Gopalaswami, former Chief Election Commissioner who headed the expert panel which initially identified the list of IoEs commented, “We considered two types [of institutions], those who are already ranked well and those which are potential institutions. We might have felt something has potential, but government may feel something else, they may have felt that if an institution is not ranked at all, it cannot be considered. It is entirely justified.”

Benefits of the IoE Tag for the University

According to the Institutions of Eminence scheme, “These selected institutions are proposed to have greater autonomy compared to other higher education institutions. They will be exempted from approvals of government or UGC for academic collaborations with foreign institutions, except institutions in MEA and MHA list of negative countries. Once identified, the target for Institutions of Eminence will be to break into top 100 bracket in one internationally reputed ranking framework in 10 years.” Due to this prestigious status DU will get INR 1,000 crore from MHRD to achieve world- class status.

The decisions brought cheers among the students and academicians in the University. Welcoming this move, Stephen Mathew, a second-year student of St. Stephens College said, “I feel proud to be a student of the University. Personally, I feel safe in the university space per. It has also allowed me to grow academically and otherwise.”

Chhavi Bahmba, a fresher from Daulat Ram College commented, “I believe the University deserves it for the level of diversity and exposure offered. It offers a great undergraduate courses, however this status can help to work upon on few things like placement, infrastructure, etc.”

However, the UGC has denied the tag to some prominent institutions like Azim Premji University, Ashoka University, Indian Institute of Human Settlements etc. since they have not been placed in any global or national rankings. These recommendations are to be submitted to the MHRD for conferring the final status.

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Sriya Rane

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