With improved NIRF rankings, AU sees an apparent shift in regaining its lost glory

Visakhapatnam: After a long pause, the education sector in Andhra Pradesh has seen an apparent shift and the declaration of NIRF rankings only confirmed it.

From a haven for ‘political’ activities to achieving fourth rank in NIRF rankings in the State public university category, Andhra University has seen a serious change in an array of parameters in recent months.

Five years back, the varsity’s reputation graph took a hit on various counts. But after the NDA government came to power, special attention was paid to not just fixing the issues to a large extent but also ensuring that the AU regains its lost glory.

Back then, when the campus was led by former Vice-Chancellor PVGD Prasad Reddy, several irregularities cropped up. However, despite a bunch of complaints raised against violations witnessed, a large part of the campus was either utilised for political sabhas or public meetings or confined to carrying out several poll surveys.

Earlier, a vigilance probe was sought for misappropriation of funds, administrative lapses and appointments made violating norms during the YSRCP’s tenure.

Much to the inconvenience of students, classes were suspended on several occasions to facilitate a grand reception for former Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy during his visits to Visakhapatnam.

Apart from a section of political leaders and officials, students too waged a relentless battle against a dip in the academic quality standards at AU and how it did impact their learning outcomes.

However, such incidents now appear to be a thing of the past. Apart from focusing on infrastructure development, the alliance is also keen on filling the faculty vacancy gaps in the university.

With an initial intake of 30 students, Andhra University recently introduced a B.Tech programme in Quantum Computing for the first time.

Expressing delight over the NIRF ranking of the Andhra University, Minister for Human Resource Development Nara Lokesh stated how the varsity improved in its rank from securing the seventh place in 2024 to the fourth place in the category this year. The HRD Minister appreciated how the varsity marched towards No.1 position among government universities in the state. Also, in the overall universities category, AU went up to the 23rd from the 25th rank scored last year.

Retaining the same position as last year, AU ranked 41st in the overall category of Central and state universities and research institutes.

With attempts taken towards strengthening Andhra University on various fronts, the NIRF rankings are set to improve further in the coming years.