ITANAGAR, Aug 13: Rajiv Gandhi University (RGU), the lone central varsity in Arunachal, has secured the second position among all central varsities in the country.
It has bagged the spot among 40 central universities in the rankings released by the union human resource development (HRD) ministry, RGU Vice Chancellor, Prof Saket Kushwaha said.
The university, located in Rono Hills near Doimukh, 15 kms from here, scored 83 percent, while Jamia Milia Islamia topped the list with 90 percent.
In the grading of central universities, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) scored 82 percent, followed by the Aligarh Muslim University with 78 percent.
The score is based on an evaluation on 17 key parameters fixed under an MoU inked among the central universities, the UGC, and the HRD ministry. Every three months, the ministry evaluates the performance of the universities.
The VC attributed the success to the efforts of the “four pillars” of the university – teachers, students, officials and non-teaching staff.
“The credit for the achievement goes to the teachers, students, officials and non-teaching staff of the university and as the VC, my effort is to create a platform for the students to showcase their hidden talent and to motivate the four pillars under which the university is functioning,” Prof Kushwaha said.
The university scored nil in two parameters – enrollment of foreign students and recruitment of statutory positions, the VC said.
“Foreign students could not be enrolled due to the inner line permit and the restricted area permit restrictions in the state,” Prof Kushwaha said.
Moreover, the university could not recruit a registrar on a regular basis, and an examination controller and a finance officer in the past three years, because of which it scored less in the performance evaluation, he said.
The evaluation was also based on other parameters such as annual student intake in UG, PG, PhD and MPhil and student diversity, which included percentage of female students and students from other states and countries.
The central universities were also assessed on the number of students placed through campus interviews, and the number of students who qualified in National Eligibility Test and the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE).
RGU, formerly known as Arunachal University, got the status of a central university on 9 April, 2007. (PTI)
