More ‘Eminence’ Imminent: Expert Body Recommends Increasing Number Of Universities With IoE Tag To 30

The Empowered Expert Committee (EEC), created by the Union Human Resources Development Ministry to select universities that deserve the Institution of Eminence (IoE) tag has suggested that the number of such awards be increased to 30. At present, 20 institutions have been given the IoE tag, reports The Indian Express.

The IoE project is aimed at internationalising Indian campuses to meet global standards. The initiative was launched by the HRD ministry in September 2017. Government institutes which are awarded the prestigious tag can get grants up to Rs 1,000 crore. Although private institutes with the tag cannot receive such funds, they get the autonomy to decide their fee and course structures.

In June 2018, the IoE tag was granted to three public institutions, namely Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, IIT Bombay and Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. The private varsities which received the tag were Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Birla Institute of Technology and Science (Pilani) and Jio Institute, run by Reliance Foundation.

The EEC then recommended another 19 names in December 2018, including five which were to be kept in reserve. With the EEC’s latest proposal, the number could go up further.

“EEC has recommended that the number of Institutions of Eminence be increased to 30. However, the recommendations are yet to be considered by the UGC,” a HRD ministry official stated.

Parliament was informed of the recommendations by Union Minister of State for HRD, Satya Pal Singh, earlier this month (January 2019).