Third-time unlucky University of Mumbai looks for reason of failure

For the third time in a row, the University of Mumbai did not find a place in the top 100 institutes of the country.

In the 2018 rankings, the varsity ranked in the 151-200 band. Some of the key parameters for the rankings included teaching, learning and resources, research and the perception of the institution by its stakeholders. In 2016, the university was absent from the list of best universities and institutions across the country as officials had failed to send the data to MHRD. The university had finally collated and sent the data in the prescribed format in 2017, but it had failed to get a spot in any one of the six categories.

Dr Radha Srinivasan, who has been recently appointed as the Chairperson of the Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC), said that the major reason for not featuring in the list is the inability to send complete data. "With over 700 affiliated colleges within its ambit and some excellent post graduate departments, it definitely has the potential of making it to the top institutes. A lot of data regarding research and other achievements, however, was not shared by departments in time probably due to the whole onscreen assessment issue which might have led to the poor performance. We are now working to streamline the process and are hopeful that we would have the complete data soon," added Srinivasan.

AD Sawant, former pro VC of the university, said that the results show how much the varsity is lagging behind. "All this is happening as there are no efficient people to lead the university and show the right way. With every coming day, the current officials continue to work in a lax manner which has led to these results," added Sawant.