The grant of status ‘institute of eminence’ or ‘institute of excellence’ has to be earned and not conferred (“Ministry defends eminence tag to Jio varsity”, July 11). Just because the expert committee has persons of repute and impeccable integrity on its panel, it is no licence to automatically confer such a status of excellence. Top universities across the world have earned this by fostering excellence in such a way that it results in a stream of Nobel laureates and original research being taken up. Soon after Independence, Jawaharlal Nehru created institutes of technology, economics and science; they did not become “schools of excellence or eminence” from day one but grew to this position by dint of hard work and vision. Even so they are nowhere near the top 10 of the world’s best universities. In the case of the proposed Jio University, it shows that the government must keep its distance from corporates.
A.V. Narayanan,
Tiruchi
