A special discussion on National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) ratings held at Modern College under the aegis of Progressive Education Society in collaboration with Akhil Bharatiya Rashtriya Shikshak Mahasangh and Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) highlighted among other factors that nearly 500 research papers linked to the university had been retracted, damaging the credibility of the institution in global research databases and possibly causing a steep fall in its 2025 NIRF rankings wherein it slipped from 37th to 91st position.
The meeting was chaired by professor Gajanan Ekbote, working president of Progressive Education Society, and brought together senior academicians, faculty members and education experts to deliberate on the reasons behind the decline in SPPU’s 2025 NIRF rankings and possible solutions. Former vice-chancellor (VC) professor Nitin Karmalkar and former pro-vice chancellor N S Umrani delivered key addresses on the occasion.
Karmalkar said, “While many private universities have climbed higher in rankings, SPPU has seen a worrying fall; the rankings are limited to the university campus and do not cover affiliated colleges yet several issues have contributed to the poor showing. The student to teacher ratio remains highly disproportionate, while the lack of diversity in student intake and the absence of international teachers has also affected scores. Another blow came from the retraction of nearly 500 research papers, five of which were directly from the university and the remaining 495 were from affiliated colleges that had published under the SPPU name. This has damaged the credibility of the institution in global research databases.”
Karmalkar emphasised that nearly 500 research papers linked to the university had been retracted, largely due to lapses. “This has unfairly impacted the university’s reputation and ranking. We need to pay special attention to research integrity and publication standards. The university should continue to engage emeritus professors and introduce the category of professors of practice,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Karmalkar emphasised that nearly 500 research papers linked to the university had been retracted, largely due to lapses. “This has unfairly impacted the university’s reputation and ranking. We need to pay special attention to research integrity and publication standards. The university should continue to engage emeritus professors and introduce the category of professors of practice,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Furthermore, Karmalkar underlined the importance of adapting curricula to contemporary needs in artificial intelligence (AI), data science, bioinformatics and electric mobility, pointing that private universities are moving faster in these areas. “We must focus on scale, speed, and scope. Our students’ employability depends on how quickly we integrate industry requirements into our syllabus,” he said.
Faculty shortages have further weakened the university’s profile as no large-scale recruitment has taken place since 2016, Karmalkar said. He stressed on the need for greater focus on data management, diversity in students and teachers, and research quality to strengthen the institution’s position in the NIRF. He also underlined the need for curriculum reform, observing that many courses remain outdated and retarded leaving little room for innovation. He called for the introduction of new-age programmes; appointment of professors of practice; accurate data submission for NIRF; greater emphasis on patents and research visibility; and creation of new platforms to support academic growth. “The university must focus on three key aspects: scale, speed and scope to regain its competitive edge. We are a public state university, and we recognise that diversity is currently missing. While we prefer students from Maharashtra first, we also need to ensure inclusivity by bringing in students from other states. In addition, there is a lack of international faculty, and we must prioritise their recruitment. The NIRF rankings started in 2014, and the last round of teacher recruitment at our university took place in 2016. But this factor did not affect last year’s ranking; the number of teachers is not the only factor that affects rankings,” Karmalkar said.
Many UGC schemes too have been discontinued further affecting academic and research growth, he noted. Moreover, the syllabus being taught currently does not have sufficient market demand or value. Such courses should be discontinued, and alternatives must be provided. Some courses have an intake capacity of 20 but only two students take admission. Karmalkar said that such courses should be scrapped while focusing on emerging fields like data science and AI, instead. He suggested appointing emeritus professors, distinguished professors and professors of practice to address faculty and expertise gaps.
Meanwhile, Umrani said, “Exams should be designed to be student-friendly with a focus on self-assessment. We need to align ourselves with the criteria and parameters of NIRF. This is collective work and a continuous, yearly process.” He highlighted that gaps between sanctioned intake capacity and actual enrolment figures in several programmes also affect rankings and urged focused institutional development to bridge these disparities.
Presiding over the discussion, Ekbote stressed that NIRF rankings must be seen as a collective responsibility rather than a burden on the university administration alone. He noted that higher education is undergoing rapid changes and it is imperative for universities to embrace these new trends to stay relevant and competitive. The discussion concluded with a call for urgent reforms in academic, research and administrative practices. Participants emphasised the need for greater accuracy in data submission, expansion of interdisciplinary research and patents, phasing out of redundant courses, and introduction of relevant alternatives.