IIT-Madras, IIT-Bombay and IIT-Delhi bagged the top three positions among the centrally-funded institutes of national importance in the Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) that were announced on Tuesday.
Vice President M Venkaiah virtually announced ARIIA-2020 on Tuesday in an event that was virtually attended by Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank.
IIT Madras bagged the top position under the category of Institutes of National Importance, Central Universities, and Centrally Funded Technical Institutes; Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai got the top position under Government and Government Aided Universities; College of Engineering, Pune under Government and Government Aided Colleges; Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, Bhubaneswar under Private or Self-Financed Universities and S R Engineering College, Warangal under Private or Self-Financed Colleges were declared on top positions, respectively.
Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) is an initiative taken up by the Ministry of Education that ranks systematically the higher education institutions and universities on indicators related to innovation.
At the event, the Vice President spoke about how he wants the higher education system to drive innovation and start-up ecosystems in the country. Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ also said that ARIIA gives a reflection of our efforts and provides us with a reason to celebrate our achievements.
The Vice President emphasized on the need for India's higher education system to play the role of an enabler and a force-multiplier that would drive the Indian innovation and start-up ecosystem. “Innovation must become the heartbeat of education. Quest for excellence must become the norm," he said.
Shri Pokhriyal said that under Vajpayee’s leadership, India had taken many leaps in the field of innovation. As a realization of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision to make India 'AtmaNirbhar', this ranking truly reflects his aspirations and is thus a tribute to his dreams and vision for the nation, he said
The Union Minister further said that a National Research Foundation (NRF) will be set that shall invigorate innovation and research under the National Education Policy (NEP) that has recently been released. He also appealed to all higher education institutes across the country to come forward and extend their participation in the forthcoming edition of ARIIA 2021.
The Vice President also expressed his happiness that the NEP has made a number of significant recommendations that will foster innovations. “It has outlined a new vision that can vastly improve the quality of teaching and learning as well as research," he said.