National Institutional Ranking Framework:
NIRF Rankings were introduced by Ministry of Education, Government of India during 2016 under four categories. With effect from 2017, NIRF introduced an additional category of rankings - Overall. Irrespective of discipline or category for which an institution has applied, it is considered eligible for a common Overall rank, if it has at least 1,000 enrolled students (calculated based on the approved intake); or is a centrally-funded institute or a university / deemed-to-be-a-university funded by the Government of India.
Let us find how 7 old IITs: OGs - Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IITKGP), Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB), Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM), Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IITK), Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD), Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IITG), and Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (IITR) have performed in NIRF Rankings under the categories of Engineering as well as Overall.
NIRF Ranking - Category of Engineering:
One may observe that IITM has consistently been ranked 1st since NIRF rankings were introduced, from 2016 onwards, till date, under NIRF - Engineering.
IITD was ranked 4th during 2016 as well as 2017, and then it improved to 3rd during 2017, and been ranked 2nd, consistently since 2018.
Whereas, IITB was ranked 2nd till 2018, has dropped a rank to 3rd since 2019 onwards, till date.
IITK was ranked 5th till 2019, and then it improved consistently to 4th since 2020, till date.
The oldest, IITKGP, has seen most inconsistent performance between 2018 and 2024. It was dropped from 3rd to 4th rank between 2017 and 2018, dropped to 5th during 2020, dropped to 6th during 2023, however improved to 5th rank during 2024.
IITR was ranked 6th between 2016 and 2022, improved to 5th during 2023, however again dropped to 6th rank during 2024.
Whereas IITG was ranked 11th during the first installment of NIRF, 2016, and then improved to 7th rank since 2017 till date.
NIRF Ranking - Category of Overall:
One may observe that IITM has consistently been ranked 1st since 2019, and was ranked 2nd during 2017 as well as 2018, under NIRF - Overall.
Since 2018, till date, IITB and IITD have been exchanging 3rd and 4th ranks with each other and playing kho kho.
IITK was ranked 7th during 2017, improved to 6th during 2019, and further improved to 5th since 2021 onwards, till date.
The oldest, IITKGP, has seen most inconsistent performance between 2017 and 2024 under NIRF - Overall too. It was dropped from 4th to 5th during 2018, dropped to 6th during 2014, dropped to 7th during 2023, however improved to 6th again during 2024.
Whereas IITR was ranked 9th during 2017, improved to 8th during 2018, dropped to 9th during 2020, improved a rank during each year till 2022 to 7th, and again dropped to 8th since 2023.
Whereas IITG has seen wide variations in its Overall NIRF rankings. Its rank varied between 7th and 12th, and presently during 2024, it is ranked 9th.
Mercurial rise of a private Deemed to be University under NIRF rankings in Engineering:
Let us also put in perspective how a particular private Deemed to be University has fared under the category of Engineering:
A specific private Deemed to be University was no where under NIRF rankings under the category of Engineering between 2016 and 2018. During 2016, it was not under Top 100. During 2017, it was not even under the rank band of 101-200. During 2018 also, it was not even under the rank band of 101-200. That means this Deemed to be University was beyond top 200 till 2018.
This private institution, all off a sudden, like a comet, appeared under top 200, and risen like Mercury to a rank of just under top 55 during 2024. Meanwhile, there is an inexplicable drop of rank during 2022, and between 2022 and 2023, during one year, it improved from 156th rank to 64th rank!
Does this weird variation in ranking indicate a flaw in ranking system of NIRF or beating of system by the private Deemed to be University? The jury is still out!
