Palampur agriculture varsity slips to 19th spot in NIRF ranking

Ravinder Sood

Palampur, August 16

Himachal Pradesh Agriculture University, Palampur, has slipped in ranking to the 19th position from the 14th position last year. The National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), a Central government agency, declared the ranking for agriculture universities in India earlier this week.

In 2020, the all-India ranking of the university was 11. The ranking of the university has been falling for the last three years. This year, it slipped to 19th position in the ranking. The continuous decline in the ranking is worrying for the university administration, the ICAR, state government, professors and students.

The key reason for the declining ranking could be that the university is without a Vice-Chancellor for the past one year, adversely affecting research, teaching and education programmes of the university. Besides, many import posts of scientists are lying vacant.

An analysis of ranking parameters shows that the university scored 79 out of 100 marks in teaching and learning resources and 72 marks in graduate outcome which indicates good performance, whereas 28 out of 100 marks were obtained in research and professional practice. Likewise, 32 marks were obtained in public perception of the university in the society which is disappointing. The NIRF ranks the universities on the basis of the data of the past three years. The reason for the fall in ranking is poor quality publications generated from research and intellectual property rights in which only zero mark was obtained.

“There have been many reasons like lack of appointment of a full-time Vice Chancellor in the university for the last one year, vacant posts of scientist, heads of department, removal of expert research scientists from important projects like natural farming of the state, financial crisis in research program of the university, unwanted and wasteful expenditures incurred by the university, etc. The government should give priority to appointment of a permanent Vice Chancellor in the universities and financial support for research so that future full-time Vice Chancellor can regain the lost ranking,” said Ashok Kumar Sarial, former Vice Chancellor.

Sans VC for one year

• The NIRF ranking of the university has fallen for the past three years.
• This year, it slipped to the 19th rank.
• The university is without a Vice-Chancellor for the past one year, which has adversely affected research, teaching and education programmes
• Besides, many important posts are lying vacant