Central University ranks 29th out of 44, despite no permanent home
Raghav Guleria
Dharamsala, August 1
The Central University of Himachal Pradesh (CUHP) has been ranked 29th out of 44 government universities found eligible, and considered out of a list of 450 universities that had applied for the rankings conducted by India Today.
The varsity is presently running from rented buildings scattered across three locations — Dharamsala, Shahpur and Dehra.
Talking to The Tribune, CUHP Registrar Suman Sharma said, “It is a proud moment for the university. Participating for the first time, the university scored 1015.9 out of 2000, standing at the 29th position in the all-India ranking. This feat is a result of the university’s focus on research and publications, coupled with reputation and overall governance.”
When asked about the university ranking lower than the previous academic year in the rankings of the Indian Infrastructure Ranking Framework (IIRF), Sharma questioned the credibility of IIRF. He claimed that the IIRF never visited the university and, thus, its findings and subsequent report had nothing to do with the varsity’s performance, which, he said, was getting better by the day.
In 2023, the university scored 3.42 in the NAAC accreditation, he added.
Mahinder Singh, the Director of the varsity’s Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC), highlighted the role of the university in fields of research and publication.
According to him, though the university had been operating for just 10 years, it was competing with universities that had been functioning for over 25-30 years.
He mentioned the two international placements of the varsity, and the 34 companies that visited the campus last year.
Singh feels that being located in the hills, the university yearns for strong public support, which, at times, is missing.
A student of the university, on the condition of anonymity, said while companies did visit the campus for placements, there still were areas of concern like global exposure, infrastructure, students’ career progression and skill enhancement, which needed to be addressed.
CUHP is expected to shift operations to its new campus coming up at Dehra by the end of the year.
‘Global exposure needed’
A student of the university, on the condition of anonymity, said while companies did visit the campus for placements, there still were areas of concern like global exposure, infrastructure, students’ career progression and skill enhancement, which needed to be addressed
