SPPU NIRF ranking falls: Minister blames protests, says public universities slow India's 'global leader' dream

Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) saw a steep fall in the NIRF 2025 rankings not solely because of staff shortage, but also because frequent protests hurt the 'perception' scores, Maharashtra minister of higher and technical education Chandrakant Patil said during the 126th SPPU convocation.

Dismissing the faculty shortage as the sole cause, Patil said that the perception score, which carries 20% weightage, had impacted the university rankings. However, perception is actually one of the parameters used for NIRF rankings 2025 and carries only 10%.

"Teacher recruitment will be resolved in a month and so will matters related to the library and hostels,” he said, adding that the corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds will be used to strengthen certain facilities on campus.

“Frequent protests on campus will keep students away. The administration should resolve the problems before the agitation escalates,” he said during the convocation ceremony.

Experts, however, attributed the fall in SPPU NIRF ranking 2025 from third position to 11th largely due to staff shortage. Over 60% of the teaching positions in the Pune university are lying vacant, the TOI quoted a senior educationist as saying. He also said, “Terming it as a perception problem is deflecting from the main issue, which is teacher recruitment”.

SPPU NIRF 2025 rankings drop

Savitribai Phule Pune University saw a sharp drop – from rank 3 to 11 – in the India rankings 2025 under the state universities category. The overall NIRF score under the university category was recorded as low as 52.33 (56th rank).

In 2024, the university was ranked number 3 under the NIRF state university rankings with a total score of 70.26. Of the total score, teaching and learning was awarded 73.46, research at 58.24, outreach at around 54, and perception stood at 63.62.

These rankings drastically dropped this year, with the overall score falling to 63.58. The decline in the score placed the university at 11th position under the state university category. The scores for all parameters dropped. While teaching parameters got reduced from 73 to 64, the 'perception' of the university fell from 63 to 56.

Moreover, official data of last four years’ PhD enrollment data revealed that a steady decline in admission has impacted research publications and resulted in a drop in rankings.

Why were Pune university students protesting?

Several students recently protested the announcement made by the university to implement a 20% increase in exam fees from the Diwali session 2025. Despite heavy rains, many students gathered outside the exam division to protest the hike in fees.

Meanwhile, reports suggest that the decision was taken by the exam and evaluation board and the management council in line with the policy that allowed 15% increase every two years from 2018-19. However, fees have not been increased in the last seven years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In July, students protested against the alleged discrepancies in the exam result and evaluation and demanded re-exam.

Also read Pune Boom: How 15 private universities reshaped higher education in 'Oxford of the East'

Push for privatisation: Patil

Chandrakant Patil, speaking at another event, talked about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of India becoming global leader by 2047 and said that public universities could delay this dream by “another 100 years”.

That is why we are encouraging private autonomous universities and colleges, the Lokmat News Network quoted Patil.

“We have created 18 autonomous universities and 400 autonomous colleges in Maharashtra. We gave them the freedom to decide policies to create capable manpower. That is why residential B.Ed education was started in the DES Society,” he said.

We have also prioritised skill development, he said, adding that Germany and Japan are already seeking lakhs of skilled professionals from India. However, only 10,000 workers trained in German language were able to go to the country for work.