NEW DELHI: Indian universities and higher education institutions are not getting their due place in global rankings mainly due to the criteria which depend a lot on the perception of a "select group" of persons, the government said.

Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani told the Lok Sabha that the government is coming out with a system for ranking of institutions based on objective criteria under the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF).

During Question Hour, Irani said several premier educational institutions in the country have set global standards in education and research.

Although entry of Indian institutions of higher education in global ranking surveys like the 'QS' and the 'THE' portrays a positive and optimistic trend, the Indian institutions are not getting their due place in the global rankings, the Minister said.

"This is primarily because of the criteria used by these agencies for ranking, which depend a lot on the perception of a select group of persons.

"While working on their strengths, the Indian higher education institutions would need to work on improving their perception index if they have to better their global rankings," Irani said.

In 2015 QS ranking, there are two institutions in the top 200 -- IIT Delhi (179) and IISc, Bangalore (147). Others in the list include IIT Bombay (202), IIT Kanpur (271), IIT Kharagpur (286), IIT Madras (254) and IIT Roorkee (391).

In the Times Higher Education (THE) ranking for this year, there are three Indian institutions -- IIT Bombay (351-400), IIT Roorkee (351-400) and IISc Bangalore (276-300), as per the written reply given by the Minister.

According to Irani, several initiatives have been taken to improve the teaching and learning processes and research.

These include Global Initiative for Academic Networks (GIAN) under which academicians from foreign universities come to teach in India, Choice-Based Credit System (CBCS) and improving curricula for undergraduate courses.

Responding to TMC member Sugata Bose who disagreed with the Minister's remarks that global rankings was more of a perception than substance, Irani said such comments would be like doing disservice to the Indian universities.

To a query on appointment of vice chancellors at central and state universities, Irani said those are done after fully following the procedures.
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