NIRF Risks Promoting Reputation Over Merit
Navneet Sharma, Yusuf Akhter | 14 October 2025 | Deccan Herald
When the Government of India launched the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) in 2015, it did so with a noble promise to build a fair, transparent, and indigenous alternative to global university rankings. For years, Indian institutions had suffered in the QS and Times Higher Education tables, not because they lacked academic strength, but because those rankings privileged international visibility, foreign faculty, and reputation surveys. NIRF was meant to change the narrative. It promised to measure institutions on metrics that reflected Indian realities, rewarding inclusivity, and empowering students, recruiters, and policymakers to make informed choices based on evidence, not elitism….