New Delhi, April 4: Coming seventh hurts.

From one of the best among all Delhi University colleges last year, the national rankings released yesterday have come as a shock for Lady Shri Ram (LSR) College.

But what appears to be especially galling is that it has been beaten hollow by long-time competitor Miranda House.

LSR ranked seventh among colleges in the NIRF rankings released by the human resource development ministry, while Miranda House stood first.

Even the little-known ARSD College, which figures low on students' perception, ranked higher than LSR at No. 5.

The LSR governing body met this afternoon, although principal Suman Sharma said the meeting was on a different issue. Asked about the rankings, Sharma said: "We are going into the details. We will explore what has happened."

It's not difficult to see why the latest rankings have hurt LSR, which counts St. Stephen's College as a competitor. The LSR website still shows the score the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) had given it last year - 3.61 on a scale of 5, one of the highest among DU colleges.

LSR, which started its journey in 1956, has long been the premier women's college in the capital, ever since it wrested that position from Miranda House, eight years its senior.

Earlier, it was Miranda House - a residential institution for women - that was traditionally the college for Delhi's privileged class. Among its alumnae are former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit and CPM leader Brinda Karat.

LSR boasts an alumna no less famous - Myanmarese peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, apart from the many women of eminence in fields as diverse as acting, politics and science.

Alumni of both recall friendly rivalries over not just academic success - but also over elements of their social life, from curfew times in hostels, to the quality and variety of food in their mess.

The rankings released yesterday - the first time that colleges had been ranked under a separate head among higher education institutions - came in this competitive backdrop of nearly half a century.

A scrutiny of criteria-based performance in the National Institutional Ranking Framework of both the colleges suggests that Miranda House had performed much better, at least in research publications and citations.

A teacher at LSR, a college well known for its arts education, said the scope for high research scores were limited in humanities compared to science subjects. Miranda House offers undergraduate and postgraduate courses in both science and humanities.

The uniform ranking parameters have failed to capture the excellence of LSR in specific areas, particularly teaching, she said. "There should be some customisation in ranking. A one-size-fits-all formula would do injustice to many institutions like LSR."

Professor Sharma, the principal, too appeared to hint as much. "We will also discuss if there is some issue with the parameters," she told this paper.

The college rankings are not just confined to Delhi. ARSD, which ranked fifth, has beaten St. Xavier's of Calcutta and better-known colleges in Chennai and Bangalore, too. Hence the scepticism about the rankings.

Asked whether LSR should start offering courses in science subjects, the faculty member said such a move might dilute the character of the institution as a leading liberal arts college.

The faculty member also pointed out that the NAAC team had visited the college last year, while the NIRF rankings were based entirely on what the colleges provide in their applications. In the NIRF assessment, the claims are not cross-checked, she added.

Miranda House's overall NIRF score is 69.39 on a scale of 100. LSR has got 58.28. NIRF data show 25 PhD students are being guided by Miranda House. The corresponding figure for LSR is nil.

HRD minister Prakash Javadekar had yesterday said better-ranked institutions would get more funds.

Abha Dev Habib, who teaches at Miranda House, said linking an institution's rank to funds was a flawed idea. "The government should look at all institutions and (give) support according to their requirements. This idea of giving more funds to top-ranked institutions would make ailing institutions suffer more," Habib said.

An HRD ministry official said institutions whose performance is poor cannot be given more funds because such a policy would suggest that laggards were being rewarded.

Habib said Miranda House has contributed immensely to women's education and emancipation.

"Even as we wish to celebrate this achievement of being listed as the topmost college, we are filled with apprehensions and fear that this may come with a push for autonomous status," she said.

"Our top rank has to be understood as a result of being part of Delhi University."

Ranking data

Reputable Delhi University colleges might have stayed away from the NIRF ranking exercise for 2016, but they are unlikely to avoid it next year.

The HRD ministry is set to use data supplied by all institutions for the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) for ranking them from next year.

Leading Delhi University colleges like St. Stephen's, Hindu, Hansraj, Kirorimal, Ramjas, Delhi School of Economics and Venkateswara college did not provide data in time for the latest NIRF exercise, so they were not ranked this year.

"From next year, the AISHE data would be used for rankings. There is no need for separate data," a senior ministry official said.