NIRF Ranking 2020: AMU writes to MHRD against downgrading

AMU has written a letter to the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) after NIRF 2020 downgraded the varsity's overall ranking to 31 from 18 in 2019.

Aligarh Muslim University Chancellor Tariq Mansoor has written to Union Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank over the issue of fall in the University ranking in the NIRF list. In the letter, he has urged Minister that it was due to an error in the NIRF data that AMU has been ranked wrongly in the list and to rectify the mistake. 

The University has requested that the rectification be done at the earliest since low ranking will adversely affect the career prospects of its students.

In a letter to the HRD minister, the Aligarh Muslim University Vice-Chancellor said a ‘serious discrepancy' in terms of the Ph.D. output has adversely hit the institution's ranking announced by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF).

"The University has 2,911 full-time research scholars while the data of the NIRF has mentioned just 33," said Shasay Kidwai, spokesperson of the University.

He also claimed that since 2016, faulty data is being shown in the NIRF rankings. Because of the flawed data, the ranking of the AMU has slipped from its last year's 18th spot to 31st. 

NIRF rankings are awarded based on the following parameters - Teaching, Learning and Resources, Research and Professional Practices, Graduation Outcomes, Outreach and Inclusivity, and Perception.

AMU has scored well in four out of five parameters, Kidwai said.

On June 11, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) had released the NIRF Indian Ranking 2020. As per the NIRF Indian Ranking 2020, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras,  ranks 1 in the Overall category followed by the Indian Institute of Science Bangalore (IISc Bangalore) and IIT Delhi.

The top three rankers in University category of National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) ranking include IISc Bangalore, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and Banaras Hindu University (BHU), respectively.