It was a moment of great pride for Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) when The Lok Sabha passed a bill on Wednesday, granting them autonomous status. It says, now IIITs will have the power of awarding degrees which include M.Tech and Ph.D, as those issued by autonomous universities. It also gives powers to Indian Institute of Information Technology Design and Manufacturing (IIITDM) in Kurnool (Andhra Pradesh) to award degrees to students. Once the law comes into force, IIITDM will be the fifth centrally-funded IIIT.
The said law includes IIITDM, Kurnool, in the principal law Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIIT) Act, 2014 which grants them the status of “Institutions of National Importance” on the IIITs.
The Central Government won’t have its say in the appointment of the Chairman of the Board of Governors and the Director to the 15 IITs, from now on.
Lok Sabha Powers Them
The bill was tabled in the Lok Sabha by HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar during the budget session in March. Replying to a debate on the bill, Javadekar strongly pointed on the fact that the fees will not be increased for the economically weaker students due to the new development. He also said that the reservation law will stand for these institutes too, as elsewhere in the country. He said besides fees, research grants and projects will compensate for the expenses.
“Students coming from economically strong background might have to cope with the slight increase in fees. While for the economically weaker students there will be scholarships, said the minister.
Academic sessions have already begun in 15 such IIITs, including in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Haryana and West Bengal. The first batch of under-graduate students of 2013-14 batch is to pass out this year.
