Jio Institute not an Institution of Eminence, education ministry clarifies in Rajya Sabha

The union ministry of education has clarified that the Jio Institute is not an Institution of Eminence (IoE) in a written reply to a question raised in Rajya Sabha.

Responding to a question from MP Javed Ali Khan, the minister of state for education Sukanta Majumdar stated that a total of 12 institutions have so far been notified as IoEs in India. These include eight public IoEs, two in New Delhi, one each in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra. There are four private IoEs, one each in the state of Karnataka, Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

The government clarified that “only public institutions get financial support under the IoE scheme”.

The reply noted that both, Jio Institute and Satya Bharti, which were earlier selected under the greenfield category in 2018 and 2019, respectively, “do not have the status of IoEs”. While the Jio Institute was launched, the Satya Bharti project was abandoned.

Institutes of Eminence

The IoE scheme was introduced to enable institutions to innovate, attract talent, and compete globally. According to the ministry, the regulatory framework laid down by the University Grants Commission (UGC) provides flexibility in areas such as academic freedom, recruitment, fee structure, and collaborations.

The government added that institutions aspiring for IoE recognition are expected to have “highly qualified faculty, good mix of Indian and foreign students, transparent merit based and need-blind admissions, excellent research facilities, NAAC accreditation and impart multidisciplinary education, among others”.

Khan also raised the issue of transparency and accountability in the IoE selection process for greenfield/ private institutions, highlighting “the inclusion of non-existent entity in the initial list”.