The recently released NIRF 2025 rankings have come under the scanner after Banaras Hindu University’s (BHU) Faculty of Dental Sciences appeared twice in the dental category, at 15th and 18th positions, highlighting likely flaws in India’s flagship higher education ranking system.
NIRF Dental Category Ranking |
This duplication, unprecedented in the history of the National Institutional Ranking Framework, stems from separate submissions made by BHU’s central administration and the Faculty of Dental Sciences itself. While intake, infrastructure, and financial details remain the same, the entries differ significantly in placement statistics and median salaries, leading to contrasting NIRF scores, particularly in the “Perception” parameter, which shows a difference of over 17 points (63.77 vs 46.48).
Each listing carries a distinct institute ID: the central BHU submission under “IR-N-U-0500” and the faculty submission under “IR-N-N-71.” The dual entries expose gaps in NIRF’s data validation process, which relies on submissions from institutions and subsequent evaluator scoring. In BHU’s case, both submissions were accepted, suggesting limited verification mechanisms.
BHU Faculty of Dental Sciences Data | NIRF
BHU Data | NIRF
According to the News 18 report, Harakh Chand Baranwal, Dean of the Faculty of Dental Sciences, attributed the duplication to confusion between the faculty and central administration submissions. He also noted that discrepancies in placement data may have arisen from “older data being used, additional students placed, or a printing error,” and assured that an internal inquiry is underway.
The incident has sparked discussions about the reliability of NIRF rankings, which are widely referenced by students and parents for admissions decisions.
