New Delhi, The vice president of Delhi University (DU) students’ union (DUSU) has alleged “discrepancies and fraudulent entries” in the NIRF (National Institutional Ranking Framework) 2025 report of the Hansraj College.
On Friday, DUSU Vice President Rahul Jhansla said, “Following a thorough review of the submitted records, it has become evident that Hansraj College has engaged in the manipulation of faculty data to artificially inflate its standing, directly violating multiple core parameters of the NIRF.”
Calling the allegations “baseless”, a college official told PTI, “A thorough inspection yields the NIRF ranking, and it cannot be manipulated in such a manner. The allegations are baseless.”
Jhansla, a NSUI (National Students’ Union of India) leader and student in the Department of Buddhist Studies, released a detailed report on Friday to support his claims.
According to the report, one of the violations committed by the college relates to the parameter concerning faculty employment duration.
The NIRF parameter of the Methodology for Ranking of Universities and Colleges explicitly states that faculty assessment must be based on regular, full-time faculty, the report states, adding that the framework also allows inclusion of contract-based faculty, but only if they have been employed for a period of time”not less than three years”.
“In direct contravention of this rule, Hansraj College has included 26 ad hoc/contractual faculty members in their 2025 data submission whose joining dates are clearly listed as 2023 and 2024,” Jhansla’s report said.
Along the same lines, the report also alleged that the parameter regarding faculty teaching requirements has also been violated. According to the report, for the NIRF 2025, a faculty member is only considered if they have taught in both semesters of the academic year 2023-24.
However, the report claims that at least 20 faculty members were included despite their official joining dates being within the last three months of 2024.
The final discrepancy pointed out in the report is that the data includes faculty members who are no longer associated with Hansraj College.
“Such data manipulation not only misleads students, stakeholders, and the Ministry of Education, but it also unfairly skews the competitive landscape against honest institutions within Delhi University,” the report said.
Jhansla has urged the concerned university authorities and NIRF nodal officers to initiate an immediate, independent inquiry into the data.
