TED NewsDesk, New Delhi: The Parliament honoured five Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) on Tuesday. In a bill passed on September 22, the Parliament labelled these newly set up educational centres in Agartala, Bhagalpur, Bhopal, Raichur and Surat, as the institutions of national significance. These institutions come under the Public-Private Partnership form.
The Lok Sabha has previously passed the Indian Institutes of Information Technology Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020 in an assembly on March 20 this year. Mr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Union Education Minister, on Monday, introduced the bill in Rajya Sabha. He said that 5 out of the 25 IIITs in the country, are controlled by the Indian government. Fifteen institutes are Public-Private Partnership (PPP) oriented.
“We have brought the proposal before this House to bring five new operational institutes which are located and have started operations in Surat (Gujarat), Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh), Bhagalpur (Bihar), Agartala (Tripura) and Raichur (Karnataka) to bring under this act,” Nishank announced.
The five institutes recognized as institutes of national importance under the bill will be allowed to grant degree, diploma, PhD and so on. These 20 IIITs established on PPP method will have the title of Bachelor of Technology (BTech) or Master of Technology (MTech) or PhD degree. These centres will be able to grab the attention of students, thus giving rise to research foundations in the information technology sector.
Showcasing his support towards the bill, BJD MP Dr Sasmit Patra said, “I support his bill on behalf of my party Biju Janta Dal.” Seeing Agartala in the list, BJP MP Kamakhya Prasad Tasa extended his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Human Resource Development Minister.
Indian Institutes of Information Technology Act, 2014 along with the Indian Institutes of Information Technology (Public-Private Partnership) Act, 2017 are the revised acts included the bill.
Presently, these five IITs are known as Societies under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. They do not issue degrees and diplomas right now. Under the IITs Law (Amendment) Bill, 2020, the tag of “national importance” will impart them the authority to issue degrees.