Yet to take off, Jio institute given eminence tag by govt

New Delhi, July 9

The HRD Ministry’s selection of the yet-to-be-established Jio Institute by Reliance Foundation as one of the six “Institutions of Eminence” drew sharp criticism from various quarters on Monday, with many questioning the process of selection and the motive behind it.

The UGC, a panel of which carried out the selections, however, defended the move saying the institution was accorded the coveted tag under greenfield category for new or proposed institutions.

“It doesn’t have a campus, a website or any alumni and it has left behind prominent IITs as well as private players like Ashoka University and OP Jindal Global University... Can’t we see the conflict of interest,” JNU professor Ayesha Kidwai said.

“What is Jio Institute? I thought only I didn’t know its eminence, but looks like everyone knew of its existence only on Monday,” a Twitter user said.

Who all got it

Public sector: IIT-Delhi, IIT-Bombay and Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru 

private sector: Manipal Academy of Higher Education, BITS-Pilani, Jio Institute 

• HRD ministry will grant Rs 1,000 cr to the three public institutions in five years; no govt funding in private sector

A professor from the IISc-Bangalore, which was also accorded the “Institute of Eminence” (IoE) tag, tweeted: “How did @PrakashJavdekar evaluate this Jio Institute to decide it was better than IIT-M or IIT-KGP or so many other Institutions? How can an institution that is in the process of being set up be declared Institution of Eminence? What are we missing here?” The move is part of HRD Ministry plan to select 20 IoEs — 10 public and 10 private — that will enjoy total academic and administrative autonomy. — PTI