Parliament passes Institutes of Technology Bill

The Parliament on Tuesday passed the Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Bill- 2016 to set up six new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) with Rajya Sabha approving it today.

The new IITs will be established in Tirupati, Palakkad, Goa, Dharwad, Bhilai and Jammu. Besides the Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad has been brought within the ambit of the IIT Act.

Replying to a debate on the bill, Human Resource and Development Minister Prakash Javadekar said the government is committed to maintain the autonomy of the IITs. He said these Institutes are being run by a board in which the Ministry has no representatives.

Javadekar assured the House that IITs will remain the centre of excellence and there will be no budgetary constraints.

Responding to members concerns regarding infrastructure and faculty problems , the Minister said the internal accrual of IITs are growing and within three years there will be no deficit in terms of infrastructure and other requirements.

Javadekar also said the vacancies in these institutes will be filled up soon. On agitation in campuses, the Minister said the students have every right to express themselves and there are no restrictions.

He also said the government is working on setting up of 20 world class institutes. Of them ten will be in public sector and ten in private.

Earlier, CPI leader D. Raja alleged that reservation policy is being not implemented properly and demanded it should be reviewed from time to time.

He also urged the government to withdraw cases registered against students in different campuses. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh demanded that the ministry should not interfere in the internal matters of IITs.