ARIIA- Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements

Context:

Atal Rankings of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) 2021 will be virtually announced by the Minister of State for Education, Dr. Subhas Sarkar on 29th December 2021.

About ARIIA:

The ARIIA is a national ranking system initiated by the Ministry of Education in 2018 to rank higher education institutions (HEIs) on different indicators of innovation. As per the Ministry, ‘The idea behind ARIIA ranking is to inspire Indian institutions to reorient their mindset and build ecosystems to encourage high-quality research, innovation and entrepreneurship.’

The innovation in HEIs is one of the ways to help India emerge as a global innovation hub. Hence, ARIIA ranking brings forth the institutions that align themselves with the responsibilities to build a sustainable innovation ecosystem.

Salient Features of ARIIA

• The methodology designed to calculate ARIIA metrics considers all major parameters/ indicators used globally to rank education institutions for innovation output. Additionally, ARIIA also measures some parameters which are India specific considering the current scenario and status of higher education in India.
• The ARIIA parameters are primarily organized in major broad parameters with 7 indicators which are further elaborated into suitable sub-heads. Each broad head has an overall weight assigned to it. Within each head, the various sub-heads also have an appropriate weight distribution.
• To ensure transparency in ranking system, an attempt is also made to identify the relevant data needed to suitably measure the performance score under each sub-head. Emphasis here is on identifying data that the institution can easily provide or is easy to obtain from third party sources and easily verifiable, wherever verification is needed. The overall score is computed based on the weights allotted to each head.
• The overall score can take a maximum value of 100.
• The institutions will be rank-ordered based on their scores.

Major Indicators for consideration

• Budget & Funding Support.
• Infrastructure & Facilities.
• Awareness, Promotions & support for Idea Generation & Innovation.
• Promotion & Support for Entrepreneurship Development.
• Innovative Learning Methods & Courses.
• Intellectual Property Generation, Technology Transfer & Commercialization.
• Innovation in Governance of the Institution.

More than quantity, ARIIA will focus on quality of innovations and will try to measure the real impact created by these innovations nationally and internationally. Moreover, ARIIA will set tone and direction for institutions for future development for making them globally competitive and in forefront of innovation.

What are the categories of ranks in ARIIA?

The two broad categories of ranks under ARIIA are:

1. Public Funded Institutions

1. Institute of National Importance, Central Universities & CFTIs
2. State University & Deemed Universities (Government & Government. Aided)
3. Government and Government / Aided College/Institutes
4. Private or Self-Financed Institutions
   • Private or Self-Financed Universities.
   • Private or Self-Financed College/Institutes

What are the objectives of ARIIA?

One of the main objectives of ARIIA is to improve India’s rank in the Global Innovation Index (GII) and bring it in the top 30 in a period of 5 years (by 2025). The other objectives are:

1. It aims to direct HEIs towards focusing on establishing a strong startup ecosystem on campus.
2. It measures the innovation and Startup ecosystem based on the following parameters:
   1. Input
   2. Process
   3. Output and
   4. Outcome
3. It aims to focus more on quality aspects of Startup ecosystems. The quantity of such ecosystems too is evaluated.
4. It measures the impact of HEIs’ innovations and startup on society and the market.

About All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE):

• The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) is a statutory body, and a national-level council for technical education
• It comes under the Department of Higher Education.
• Established in November 1945 first as an advisory body and later on in 1987 given statutory status by an Act of Parliament,
• AICTE is responsible for proper planning and coordinated development of the technical education and management education system in India.
• It is assisted by 10 Statutory Boards of Studies, namely,

• UG Studies in Eng. & Tech.,
• PG and Research in Eng. and Tech.,
• Management Studies,
• Vocational Education,
• Technical Education,
•  Pharmaceutical Education,
• Architecture,
• Hotel Management and Catering Technology,
• Information Technology,
• Town and Country Planning.
• The AICTE has its new headquarters building in Delhi
• In its 25 April 2013 judgment the Supreme Court said “as per provisions of the AICTE Act and University Grants Commission (UGC) Act, the council has no authority which empowers it to issue or enforce any sanctions on colleges affiliated with the universities as its role is to provide only guidance and recommendations.” Subsequently AICTE was getting approval from the Supreme court to regulate technical colleges on a year to year basis till January 2016, when AICTE got blanket approval for publishing the Approval Process Handbook and approve technical colleges including management for the session 2016-17 and in all future sessions

Source: PIB

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