Jamia's Performance Rated 'Outstanding' By HRD Ministry, VC Calls It 'Significant' Considering CAA NRC Protests

Jamia Millia Islamia's performance in the academic year 2019-20 has been termed "outstanding" by the HRD Ministry in its evaluation of central universities.

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New Delhi: HRD Ministry conducted an evaluation of central universities for the academic year 2019-20 and concluded that Jamia Millia Islamia's performance has been "outstanding".  The Ministry of Human Resource Development sent a letter to the university stating that JMI scored 95.23 percent in the overall assessment. Revealing the factors that have contributed to the score, Vice-Chancellor Professor Najma Akhtar elaborated about the superior-quality teaching, relevant and focused research, and improved perception of the university. Prof. Akhtar also expressed her expectation to see the university improve in the coming years. She said that the achievement is especially significant considering the challenging times that the university sustained in the recent past. For the uninitiated, JMI had become the centre of protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC). The situation became so serious that Delhi Police barged into the campus and allegedly baton-charged students studying in a library on December 15 last year. The police had defended the action by saying that it was looking for the miscreants most likely outsiders who were involved in giving anti-CAA protest a violent turn. The performance of central universities was evaluated on the basis of key parameters against set targets. They signed a tripartite MoU with HRD Ministry and the University Grants Commission (UGC) for the same. The set parameters include faculty quality and strength, student diversity and equity, academic outcomes, research performance, outreach, governance, finance, national and international rankings and accreditation, and co-curricular and extra-curricular activities. JMI was the first university to sign the MoU in 2017. In the ministry's National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) rankings announced last month, JMI was ranked 10th. In the 'Overall' category, the university was given the 16th position. IITs, IIMs, IISc, other top technical institutions and universities are also included in the 'Overall' category. (With Agency Inputs) WATCH | Uttar Pradesh: Almost 11 lakh students fail in Hindi board exams