On September 29, 2015, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) adopted a framework NIRF (National Institutional Ranking Framework). NIRF ranks all the higher education institutions in our country. The types of institutions that are ranked by the NIRF are various universities, architecture institutions, management colleges, engineering institutions, and pharmacy institutions. The areas that are considered for the ranking are stakeholder perception, research, and resources. In 2016, close to 3500 educational institutions took part in the ranking.

What and How

HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar released the NIRF ranking list today (3^rd April 2017). A new category was added to the list this year. Known as the ‘common overall ranking’. For this category, all the institutions participating in the ranking were considered. The only two conditions they had to comply in order to participate was that they needed to have at least 1000 students enrolled in their institution or they had to be funded by the Government of India. The Top 10 higher education institutes to feature on this list this year are:

1. Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru
2. Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai
3. Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay
4. Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur
5. Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi
6. Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi
7. Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur
8. Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati
9. Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee
10. Banaras Hindu University (BHU)

Mr. Javadekar also said that in order to maintain the spirit of competition amongst the participating institutions, the institutions securing top ranks in the list would be given more funds from the government along with more autonomy and freedom to function as per their own rules and regulations. A policy for this decision would be announced at the earliest. Engineering is one of the most popular streams that students opt for after their 12^th grade. For the ranking, close to 3000 colleges and universities from all over the country were considered. The top 10 engineering colleges in the country are:

1. Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras
2. Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay
3. Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur
4. Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi
5. Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur
6. Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee\
7. Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati
8. Anna University, Chennai
9. Jadavpur University
10. Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Hyderabad

In the top 10 general educational institutions category, IISc won the first place. The entire list:

1. Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
2. Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi
3. Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi
4. Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore
5. Jadavpur University, Kolkata
6. Anna University, Chennai
7. University of Hyderabad
8. Delhi University
9. Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore
10. Savitribai Phule Pune University

Ranking educational institutions in India is necessary as it will highlight the quality of education and other facilities provided by the various institutions. This will help the students make an informed choice about the institute they wish to join. The entire NIRF list will be announced on April 10, 2017.