The Institutions of Eminence (IoE) scheme, launched in 2017 to elevate select higher educational institutes to global standards, has failed to deliver the promised financial support of up to ₹1,000 crore each to eight public-funded institutions over seven financial years beginning 2018-19, data obtained under the RTI Act revealed.

The education ministry has also not reconstituted the empowered expert committee (EEC), which oversees the scheme's implementation since February 2021, when the first panel ended its three-year term. Against the avowed plan of providing up to ₹1,000 crore each to the eight institutions in the last seven financial years (or ₹8,000 crore in total), the government has sanctioned ₹6,198.97 crore (see chart), data accessed by The Telegraph showed.

IIT Madras is the only institute that has been sanctioned ₹1,000 crore during the period, while Delhi University (DU) has received the lowest financial aid of ₹480.62 crore.

IIT Kharagpur has been sanctioned ₹672.05 crore, the lowest among the four IITs selected under the IoE scheme.

In 2018 and 2019, 20 institutions, including 10 private ones, were selected for the IoE status. The status grants the institutes greater autonomy in the hiring of faculty, admission of students and setting up of offshore campuses. The institutions are expected to be counted among the top 500 of any world-renowned ranking framework within the first 10 years after their declaration as IoE.

The government’s delay in the reconstitution of the EEC has cast a shadow on the grant of IoE status to four private institutions — Jio Institute of Reliance Foundation, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), Bhubaneswar and Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore — which were selected for the tag in 2018 and 2019.

The EEC was set up in February 2018 with the approval of the appointments committee of the cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It was headed by former chief election commissioner N. Gopalswami. On the status of EEC, the central public information officer of the education ministry said: “The matter of constitution of the EEC is under consideration.”

On whether any review meeting of the scheme had been held in the absence of the EEC, the RTI reply suggested that education minister Dharmendra Pradhan had chaired a meeting on September 9, 2021, while the higher education secretary had meetings on March 22, 2022, July 22 and May 20, 2023. This means no review meeting has taken place in the last two years.

Abha Deb Habib, former member of the DU executive council, said: “This is unfortunate that the assured amount has not been sanctioned to the institutions under the IoE scheme. Fund utilisation should be monitored constantly. But the EEC has not been formed, which means monitoring is not happening. The onus is on the government for the successful implementation of a scheme. But this seems to be the fate of NEP schemes. There is no effort to bring quality changes with accountability."