Several Lok Sabha members cutting across party lines on Tuesday demanded setting up of a National Institute of Design (NID) in their respective state, saying it will help create skilled manpower and generate job opportunities.
Speaking during the discussion on the National Institute of Design (Amendment) Bill, 2019, DMK parliamentarian Kalanidhi Veeraswamy said the government should establish an institute in any district of Tamil Nadu.
Congress leader Hibi Eden too asked for setting of an institute in Cochin as the city has ancient churches and other heritage buildings.
"We need an institute in Kerala. An NID can be considered in Cochin," he said.
The Bill seeks to declare four National Institutes of Design in Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Assam and Haryana as institutions of national importance.
It will allow the four institutes to grant degrees and diplomas.
Trinamool Congress parliamentarian Satabdi Roy too said that West Bengal should have such an institute.
She said that there is a need to focus on quality of faculties in these centres.
Kirit Solanki of the BJP said that every state should have one NID because all states have skills and design capacity.
He also said that there should be some kind of scholarship for women, SC and ST candidates in these institutes.
Ritesh Pandey of the BSP said that Uttar Pradesh and Bihar too should have NIDs as these will help create jobs.
He said that the fees structure in these institutes should not be high and the government should consider either to reduce or give free education to SC and ST candidates.
He added that the chairperson of such as institute should be from the design sector only.
B B Patil of the TRS said that NID in Andhra Pradesh should be shifted to Telangana.
CPI-M member A M Ariff said there are 134 institutes which have the tag of institute of national importance and there is a need to increase the quality of faculty in these centres.
He also said that due to fee hike, students are getting agitated and the government should look into the issue.
He requested the HRD Minister to settle the student strike in Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi.
Kirron Kher of the BJP suggested that the NID governing council should have a representative from the Ministry of Tribal Affairs as various tribes have rich sense of design.
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