Institutes of Eminence Scheme

Context: The University Grants Commission has deferred a decision on which institutions should be granted the prestigious Institutes of Eminence tag as an expert committee has recommended more names than the government scheme allowed for.

Background:

The empowered expert committee headed by former Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswami had initially recommended 11 institutions for the tag in July 2018. In December, the committee recommended 19 more names, taking the total list to 30.

Institutions of Eminence scheme:

1. The institutes of eminence scheme under the Union human resource development (HRD) ministry aims to project Indian institutes to global recognition.
2. The selected institutes will enjoy complete academic and administrative autonomy.
3. The government will run 10 of these and they will receive special funding.
4. The selection shall be made through challenge method mode by the Empowered Expert Committee constituted for the purpose.
5. Eligibility: Only higher education institutions currently placed in the top 500 of global rankings or top 50 of the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) are eligible to apply for the eminence tag.
6. The private Institutions of Eminence can also come up as greenfield ventures provided the sponsoring organisation submits a convincing perspective plan for 15 years.

Sources: the hindu.