The Lok Sabha, on Friday, passed a bill which seeks to confer the status of Institution of National Importance (INI) on five more Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs).

The Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020, proposes to bring the five institutions under the IIIT (Public-private Partnership) Act, 2017, similar to the other 15 IIITs established under the scheme in Public-private Partnership (PPP) mode.

The five IIITs which are proposed to be given the INI status are located in Surat, Bhopal, Bhagalpur, Agartala and Raichur. These five IIITs along with 15 others which are also build in PPP mode will now be able to use the nomenclature of Bachelor of Technology (BTech) or Master of Technology (MTech) or PhD degree.

It will also enable the institutes to attract enough students required to develop a strong research base in the country in the field of information technology. Replying to the debate on the Bill, Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhiriyal ‘Nishank’ said that such institutes have recorded 100 per cent placement.

Clarifying the apprehensions raised by some members of the House, he said these institutes also follow the reservation policy announced by the government. He also said the quality of education was improving, and the country was moving ahead in research and development.

Participating in the discussion on the bill, BJP’s Ram Kripal Yadav said there was just one Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Bihar and stressed that there was a need to open more such institutes.

Trinamool’s Saugata Roy supported the bill and requested the government to look into curriculum of these IIITs to bring them to the level of the IITs.

Stating the institutes in India were lagging in hardware education, he said there should be necessary hardware education so that India can manufacture its own computers.

BJD member B Mahtab supported the bill and stated that India has made its presence felt across the world with relating to information technology. He also said that the “need for a common syllabus throughout the country needs to be considered”, and also stressed on “standardisation of fee structure”.

Danish Ali of the BSP said that the government would allocate move funds for research and development.

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