HRD names 25 cleanest higher education institutes of India
The HRD Ministry has released its Swachhta Rankings list 2017, where Higher Education Institutions (HEI) have been graded, according to their cleanliness. Disappointingly, no government institute made it to the top-50. The only prominent institute in the list is IIT-Guwahati. OP Jindal Global University (Haryana) topped the list of cleanest universities. In colleges, Tamil Nadu's Kongu Arts and Science College was ranked cleanest.
HRD surveyed about 3,500 HEIs across several parameters: student/toilet ratio, kitchen hygiene, availability of running water, campus green cover, garbage disposal etc. Whether institutions have adopted neighboring localities to spread awareness about 'Swachhta' was also taken into consideration. Initially, 174 were shortlisted. After the UGC and AICTE inspected the premises, the top 25 were chosen. Institutes were divided into universities, colleges, technical and government institutions.
Government institutes fared miserably. The category had to be created separately since none came in the top-50, said HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar. GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology (Uttarakhand), Madurai Kamraj University (TN), Alagappa University (TN), NIT-Hamirpur (HP), IIT-Guwahati (Assam), PG College for Girls (Chandigarh) and Punjab University entered the list. Even during digital literacy campaign VISAKA, no NIT/IIT/IIM was in the top-20.
Among private universities, OP Jindal topped the list, followed by Manipal University (Jaipur), Chitkara University (HP), KLE Academy of Higher Education and Research (Karnataka) and Dayalbagh Educational Institute (Agra).
Among colleges, Kongu College (TN), Vidya Pratishthans College (Pune), Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda (TN), Vivekanandha College (TN), SNR Sons (TN) and KG College (TN) made the cut. For technical institutions, it was Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (TN), Koneru Lakshmaiah Education Foundation (AP), Sri Ramachandra Medical College (TN), Vivekanandha College for Women (TN), RMD (TN), RMK (TN) and Abes Institute of Technology (UP).
In a major booster for Tamil Nadu, 12 of the 25 cleanest campuses are located in the southern state. No Delhi institute entered the list.
