Govt to amend Institutes of Technology Act, for new IITs

Last Updated: Tuesday, September 23, 2008, 00:00

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New Delhi, Sept 23: The government will table an amendment to the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961, in the coming session of Parliament to make the new IITs eligible to award degrees to students.

The new IITs, started this year, are operating as societies at present. To be an institute with power to award degrees, the names of the new IITs have to be incorporated into the existing Act.

"A draft of the Institute of Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2008, is ready. It will be tabled in Parliament in the coming session," a senior official in HRD Ministry said.

Six new IITs have been started in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Orissa, Punjab and Gujarat from this year. Academic activities in these institutes are either run by mentor IITs or in temporary campuses.

"They have been started as societies. If the Act is not amended and their names are not incorporated into the Act, they cannot award degrees. A society cannot award degrees to students," the official said.

The Act was earlier amended in 1994 when IIT Guwahati came into existence.

Of the seven existing IITs, the ones at Delhi, Mumbai, Kanpur, Guwahati and Chennai had come up as registered societies.

After the amendment, the new IITs will act as autonomous bodies and take up their own activities. They can design their courses and will enjoy financial autonomy as well, the official said.

Apart from six new IITs, which have already started functioning, two new IITs will come up in the state of Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh. There is also a proposal to upgrade the Institute of Technology, BHU, into an IIT.

The new institutes have recruited students. However, they do not have campuses and directors. The directors and chairmen of board of governors of the mentor IITs are acting as directors and chairmen of the new IITs.

The government has allocated Rs 2,000 crore in the 11th Plan for these institutes. State governments have provided 500 to 600 acres of land for establishment of each of the new IITs.

Bureau Report

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First Published: Tuesday, September 23, 2008, 00:00

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indian - mysore
this is the right time during amendment to say that the seats in new IIT i oonly for minorities. AA THOSE WHO ENROLL TO THE ADMISSION WILL BE DECLARED AS PASSD . ANY VIOLATION OF THIS PASSING PROCEDURES BY ANY PERSON WILL BE JAILED WITHOUT ANY REASONS.