India in Bottom 10-20% Bracket on Academic Freedom Index, Ranks 156th Globally

New Delhi: In the 2025 update to the Academic Freedom Index, India ranked 156th of the 179 countries assessed in the report. Its score fell from 0.38 in 2022 to 0.16, putting it in the bottom 10-20% bracket.

AFI, published by the V-Dem Institute, measures countries on the following factors: freedom to research and teach; freedom of academic exchange and dissemination; institutional autonomy; campus integrity; and freedom of academic and cultural expression.

In its latest report, the V-Dem Institute said that electoral success of anti-pluralist parties is “a potential driver of academic freedom decline”. “Drawing on data over a period of 50 years, we show that academic freedom is at risk when anti-pluralist parties reach government,” the report said.

The report identifies 34 countries and territories that experienced a “statistically significant and substantially meaningful decline in academic freedom compared to ten years ago”. India is among them.

Among its neighbours, India was among the worst performing countries measuring only above China in the bottom 10% bracket. While Bangladesh was in the same bracket as India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bhutan fell in the top 30-40% bracket and Sri Lanka in the top 40-50%.

Anti-pluralist parties and decline in academic freedom

The report states that anti-pluralist parties lacked commitment to democratic processes, legitimacy of political opponents, rejection of political violence and minority rights. It said that such parties tend to “deepen differences between political camps, reduce the space for public contestation and undermine mutual forbearance.”

“Consequently, one would expect that anti-pluralist political parties undermine not only freedom of information and expression in general but also academic freedom specifically,” the report said.

Data cited in the report showed that governments in countries with full academic freedom (status group A)rarely made anti-pluralist claims. On the other hand, countries with severe or complete restrictions on academic freedom had government parties that used anti-pluralist claims extensively.

“High levels of academic freedom often go hand in hand with the absence of strong anti-pluralism in the party system,” the report added.

Modi government's track record on academic freedom

The Modi government has repeatedly drawn the ire of scholars and rights groups for its infringement on freedom of speech and expression both in academic spaces and outside.

The annual Free to Think 2024 report by the Scholars at Risk’s (SAR) Academic Freedom Monitoring Project classified India as “completely restricted” due to threats to freedom, including political interference, restrictions on student expression and attacks on academics. SAR is a network of 665 universities across the globe.

The government has culled student protests with police brutality, cut essential funding for independent research institutes through FCRA regulations and and faced criticism for pushing a right-wing agenda in central universities, among other concerns.

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