Can't compare JNU with single-subject institutes like IISc: JNU VC on NIRF ranking 2022

New Delhi: After losing the top spot to IISc in NIRF rankings, Jawaharlal Nehru University Vice Chancellor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit said that JNU has a different character and different set of challenges, which cannot be compared with the likes of the Bengaluru institute.

The seventh edition of the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) rankings was announced on Friday by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. In the 'universities' category, Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bengaluru bagged the top spot followed by JNU at second and Jamia Millia Islamia at third spot.

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"We are very happy. IISc is not a university like JNU. It is a research-based institute, and putting JNU and IISc together is comparing apples with oranges. Anyway, I thank all my faculty, students and non-teaching staff. It is a collective effort," Pandit told PTI.

She said that the university is moving in different areas of innovation while maintaining its inclusiveness. She said the varsity is going to start a ‘School of Indian languages,’ adding that they are also looking to strengthen their Science programmes so that they become as good as those taught in IISc.

"They don't have the problems that we have. But I like JNU because of its brilliance and diversity. We have a Booker Prize winner from here and we have a child beggar going to US on a scholarship,” Pandit said. “I think no other institute has this kind of diversity. I think single-subject institutions should not be put together with universities since we have several courses and we are politically very active also," she said.

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"They get a 9.5 pointer students and they make them 9.6 pointer ones. Their fee is Rs 10 lakh. We get three to five pointer students and we make them eight to nine pointer ones in Rs 10 to Rs 20 fees. There is no comparison," she said.

The VC said that the decision to resume offline classes with full attendance has been left to the discretion of chairpersons and deans of schools, since they know the strength of the classrooms. There have also been protests demanding complete resumption of offline teaching.