Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) released the NIRF rankings 2020 on June 11. This was the fifth year of the higher education rankings after its launch in 2015. From just four categories in 2016, when the first rankings were announced, the rankings have expanded to include ten categories in which institutes are ranked. Over the five years of the rankings, several institutes have improved their performance with some states faring better than others. Bihar, however, remains at the lowest rung on the ladder.
In the first ever NIRF rankings announced in 2016, only one University from Bihar made it to the top 100 universities in the country - Central University of South Bihar. The University was ranked at 94th place. Among the parameters used to determine the ranks of universities, Central University of South Bihar scored a zero in the Perception parameter.
After 2016, not a single University in Bihar has made it to the top 100 Universities list. The saving grace for the state is IIT Patna, which has been steadily climbing up in the overall category.
The overall category was included in NIRF Rankings from 2017. In 2017, IIT Patna was ranked at 83rd position in the overall category, in 2018 it climbed to 69th place, followed by 58th rank in 2019 and settling at 54th rank in 2020.
Among Engineering institutes only, IIT Patna was ranked 10th in 2016, 19th in 2017, 24th in 2018, 22nd in 2019 and 26th in 2020.
No other institute, university or college has made it to the NIRF Rankings in any of the other categories.
Apart from IIT, Bihar also has one IIM in Gaya and an AIIMS in Patna. But these institutes did not make it to the rankings either in their respective categories.
Participation in NIRF Rankings is voluntary and that may be one of the reasons for the dismal performance of Bihar in the ranking system. Institutes need to submit their details on the NIRF portal and those that do not participate are not ranked. In 2020, only seven institutes from Bihar participated to be ranked in NIRF Rankings. These include A.N.College in Patna, Central University of South Bihar in Gaya, IIT Patna, Jagjeevan College in Ara, NIT Patna, and Vidya Vihar Institute of Technology in Purnia.
