SPPU students demand answers from VC for poor rankings
Pune University faces student unrest over its drop to 91st in NIRF rankings. Students demand Vice Chancellor's resignation and accountability from administration.
Pune: A day after the Ministry of Education announced the 2025 National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) results, Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) faced growing discontent among students over its sharp decline in rankings. Several student organizations, groups and political student wings held a dialogue meeting with members of the university’s Management Council (MC) on Tuesday, voicing concerns and demanding accountability from the university administration.
SPPU, once ranked 37th overall in 2014, now finds itself at 91st in the 2025 overall category, 56th among universities, and 11th among state public universities. In 2017, the university had secured a place in the top 10 universities of the country, but its steady decline has drawn criticism. Students strongly criticized the current Vice Chancellor, holding him responsible for the fall, and demanded his resignation on moral grounds.
At Tuesday’s meeting, held at the university’s guest house prior to the scheduled Management Council session, students presented a charter of demands to council members. Key issues raised included: guaranteed hostel accommodation for needy students, investigation into alleged irregularities in contractual faculty appointments, streamlining of the PhD admission process, inquiry into corruption in post-doctoral fellowships, withdrawal of cases against student activists, and strengthening of campus safety for women students.
Rahul Sasane, president of the University Students’ Struggle Action Committee, said, “The drop from 37 to 91 is extremely alarming. This Vice Chancellor will go down as the most inefficient in the university’s history. We have demanded his resignation and placed all student concerns before the Management Council.”
Echoing this, student leader Nitin Andhale remarked, “The fall in rankings is shocking. The Vice Chancellor, as head of the university, must take responsibility and step down.” Meanwhile, NCP student leader Omkar Benke warned of fresh protests: “We will soon launch a strong agitation demanding the removal of the Vice Chancellor. All stakeholders, faculty, students, and council members must unite to improve SPPU’s ranking.”
According to university officials, the decline is largely due to retirements of senior faculty, which lowered the Faculty–Student Ratio (FSR), a crucial NIRF parameter. The expansion of new degree programmes increased enrollment, straining resources further, while the loss of experienced research-active faculty negatively impacted research output. The administration has since initiated a faculty recruitment drive to address these gaps and expressed confidence about regaining its earlier position.
Management Council members present at the meeting assured students that their concerns would be raised in the council session and deliberated at the appropriate forums. However, student groups remain firm in their demand for the Vice Chancellor’s resignation.
The ongoing developments underscore the widening rift between the university administration and student bodies.
Management Council member Devidas Waidande told Hindustan Times, “Today we conducted the Management Council meeting, and we discussed the drop in the university’s NIRF ranking this year. We talked about the reasons behind it and the planning needed to improve, including reframing policies for university development, faculty recruitment, research, infrastructure, collaborations, budget allocation, and sustainable equipment. The Council and administration must work together, and proper financial provisions should be made. One of the main reasons for the low ranking is the shortage of faculty; only about 30% of sanctioned posts are currently filled.some of them are on CHB base, Because of this, research is lacking and not of the required quality. We are in conversation with the government for permanent recruitment of professors so that the situation can improve. Today, various student union representatives also met us, we heard their demands, and we will try to resolve them.”
Pro-VC Parag Kalkar said, “In today’s Management Council meeting, we discussed the university’s NIRF ranking and ways to improve it. We also talked about the upcoming Senate preparation, which will also focus on the NIRF ranking
