Private varsities shine in India ranking, govt-run institutes slip

Three private universities — Chandigarh University (CU), Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala, and Lovely Professional University (LPU), Phagwara — have emerged as the top-ranked higher education institutions in Punjab, as per the ‘India Ranking 2024’ released by the Union ministry of education (MoE) on Monday.

These private universities, which have bagged the top three spots in the state, are among seven higher education institutions (HEIs) from Punjab that figured in the top 100 in the country in overall category of the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) 2024. The remaining four on the list from Punjab are all government-run institutions. The national rankings were released by Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan in New Delhi. BJP leader and Rajya Sabha member Satnam Singh Sandhu is the founder-chancellor of Chandigarh University, whereas Aam Aadmi Party’s Rajya Sabha member Ashok Kumar Mittal is the founder-chancellor of the LPU.

Chandigarh University has topped the state with an all-India overall rank of 32, up 13 notches from the 45th rank it got last year. In 2022, it was ranked 48th. The Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, a deemed university, is at number two position in Punjab again this year. Ranked 45th, LPU is third in the state. This is the first time three private universities have emerged on top, pipping the government-run institutions, since the rankings were started by the Central government in 2016.

While private universities have improved their numbers, government universities and institutes on the list have seen their rankings slip. The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Ropar, which was the highest-ranked institution in Punjab for four consecutive years, has secured an overall rank of 48, dropping 15 notches from 33 in last year’s ratings. In 2022, IIT-Ropar was ranked 35. Similarly, Panjab University, Chandigarh (60), IISER, Mohali (64), and Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana (80), have also seen their rankings slump as compared to previous year.

The National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar, and Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, which were 72nd and 87th in 2023, are missing from the top 100 this time.

The NIRF evaluates higher education institutions, including public and private universities, deemed universities, colleges and central institutes, on five broad generic groups of parameters — teaching, learning and resources (TLR), research and professional practice (RP), graduation outcome (GO), outreach and inclusivity (OI) and perception (PR), and ranks are assigned based on total sum of marks secured by them for each of these five broad groups. Chandigarh University and LPU have done better than the government-run institutions in outreach and inclusivity and perception, which include percentage of students from other states/countries, women diversity, facilities for physically challenged students and perception ranking. The education ministry also released the list of top research, medical, pharmacy, engineering, law, agriculture and dental institutions.

PAU 3rd nationwide in agriculture sector

In agriculture and allied sectors category, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, bagged the third position, behind Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi, and ICAR – National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal. All three institutions were ranked in this order in 2023 also. The LPU (22) and Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (24) are among the 40 top institutions in this sector across the country.

Panjab University (7) and the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Mohali, (9), were among the top 10 in pharmacy. In the state public university category, which has been introduced for the first time, only two universities from Punjab found mention — Panjab University (5th) and PAU (30th).

Panjab University is at the 35th spot in the category of research institutions. Thapar institute, LPU, IIT-Ropar and IISER-Mohali have ranked 39th, 44th, 45th and 49th, respectively.