NIRF Ranking 2025 – The National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) rankings for 2025 will likely be released in the 1st half of September 2025. The rankings are delayed largely in part to the Madras High Court staying the release in response to a PIL that claimed universities were submitting false information and gaming the system. The High Court has since dismissed the plea.
It may be noted that the NIRF Ranking 2024 was published on August 12, 2024.
Medical Category to be Dropped
There is also a possibility that this years’ rankings will exclude the Medical category, a move that could be prompted again by data integrity issues.
If the rankings for the category are in fact omitted, it will put a severe dent on the NIRF Ranking system. For one, it will confuse students as to whether the rankings published in previous editions are genuine or they are also under the scanner.
Such doubts will make it difficult for students to make a shortlist of medical colleges for admission, especially the mid- to lower-ranked ones, or ones that are not very popular.
It was the NIRF rankings which gave a candidate the confidence to take admission to a college that one knew very little about. Now with the rankings being compromised, things become all the more complicated.
Negative marking introduced for withdrawal of research paper
If a research paper is retracted, the institute will be penalized. However, for now, the penalties are kept at a low level, with scope for stricter penalties in next editions.
What does NIRF Ranking Controversy Tells Us
The recent ranking fiasco shows the central government in poor light. Only a few days back, the nation was gripped by allegations over misconduct of the SSC exam, which was followed by lathicharge of protesting students and teachers.
Apart from that, allegations of paper leakage have become commonplace, with the most recent incident being the ED raid in Patna over the NEET-UG paper leak case.
It is high time the government does some soul searching and starts accepting the reality that the education sector needs a real revamp and the ministers handling important portfolios need to be accountable. Currently, the government is in a pass the buck mode with little accountability.