IIT-Madras has reportedly written to Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar expressing its disappointment over not being considered for the Institutions of Eminence (IoEs) status despite a recommendation from the UGC-mandated selection panel, reports The Indian Express.

Pawan Goenka, IIT Madras Chairman, is reported to have raised the concerns of the Board of Governors (BoG) to the HRD Minister almost a month after the IoE announcement was made on 9 July.

The Empowered Expert Committee (EEC) entrusted by the UGC to find 20 IoEs out of 114 applicants had recommended the names of 11 institutions for ‘eminence’ status.

The Indian Institute of Science (IISc), IIT-Madras, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, Delhi University, Jadavpur University and Anna University were recommended under the public category, in that order. BITS-Pilani, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) and Reliance Foundation’s proposed Jio Institute were also suggested under the private category.

IIT Madras had been recognised as the best engineering institute for three consecutive years in the NIRF ranking of the Ministry of HRD. Goenka is also reported to have reiterated the NIRF performance in the letter where he is reported to have commented on the UGC’s decision as “unfortunate”.

The Union Cabinet approved UGC’s ‘Institutions of Eminence Deemed to be Universities Regulations 2017’, in August last year. The IoEs are aimed at creating an enabling architecture for ten public and ten private institutions to emerge as world-class institutions.