IIT Council approves UG fee hike
New Delhi, Jan 7 (IBNS)
The 46th meeting of Council of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) on Monday approved the recommendation of the Group of Directors of IITs and Empowered Task Force for revision of fee for Under Graduate students from the existing Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 90,000 per annum from the year 2013.
The meeting was chaired by Union Human Resource Development Minister M. M. Pallam Raju and attended by Chairman of Board of Governors and Directors of all 16 IITs.
The revised rates will, however, be applicable for the new entrants to the UG programs and the fee may be revised periodically. Members of Council of IITs stressed that the easy loan facility is available to students and no student who has qualified the JEE is denied entry into IITs due to financial constraints.
One of the key recommendations of the Kakodkar Committee was that the IITs become financially independent of non-plan (operational) budgetary support to meet their operating expenditure, while the capital, student scholarships, support and infrastructure expenditure continue to be met fully under the plan (capital budget support) by the government.
The Kakodkar Committee had in fact recommended fee for UG, Masters and PhD Programmes to the order of Rs. 2 - 2.5 lacs per annum, which was revised downwards by Director of IITs and the Empowered Task Force.
At present, the Undergraduate students pay an annual tuition fee of Rs. 50,000.
The fee was last revised from Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 50,000 per annum from academic session 2008-09. No tuition fee is charged from the students belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
A number of other facilities like a free mess, free hostel facility and free book bank facilities are available to SC and ST students. Besides this, 25 percent of total students, whose parental income is less than 4.5 lakh per year, are given 100 percent scholarships.
In his inaugural address, Raju emphasized that IITs should strive for greater industry linkages.
The minister said that both the quality and quantity of faculty was key to improving the standards of technical education in the country.
The Council of IITs decided that the Peer Review of each Institute would be carried out on a periodic basis, once in every five years.
The Review Committee would consist of five eminent persons from Industry and Academia.
The Committee members would be selected by the Chairman of the Council of IITs from a panel of 10 names given by the Board of Governors of respective Institutes. For the new IITs, similar exercise will be carried out on completion of five years.
The Peer Review will be based on similar well-established review systems in world-class institutions and would be rigorous and forward-looking. Besides a periodic review of the institution, each IIT will similarly undertake, an in-house, department wise review before any external Peer Review is carried out.
The process, the results and the follow-up on Peer Review would be uploaded on Institute/IIT Council's website as a mechanism to foster a culture of transparency and accountability.
With a view to increase the number of PhD from 3000 at present to 10,000 by 2020, the Council of IITs approved the recommendation of the Empowered Task Force headed by Anil Kakodkar for "strengthening the PhD Programme in the IITs".
This provides for relaxed conditions for enrollment into the PhD program in IITs.
The admission would be given without GATE score to students with CGPA of more than 7.0 at the end of the 3rd year but GATE score would be required for scholarship.
However, students from Centrally Financed Technical Institutions (CFTIs) with CGPA of more than 7.0 would be eligible for PhD programs and also assistantship/fellowships without the requirement of GATE scores.
All others will have to appear for GATE to get into M. Tech and PhD programs in IITs.
A PhD programme for persons working in industry and teachers in Engineering Colleges will be introduced in all IITs wherein the course requirement would be fulfilled through courses to be delivered remotely using the National Knowledge Network (NKN).
The Council of IITs further approved the Trainee Teacher Award NIT / IIT Joint Scheme with an aim to enhance the teaching quality and to address the faculty shortage issue.
This scheme is open to all graduating candidates who are in the top 15 percent in the Centrally Funded Technical Institutes (CFTIs).
All other candidates who are in the top 15 percent from other AICTE/UGC approved institutions / universities (non-CFTIs) and having a valid GATE score would also be eligible. The concerned NITs would identify and implement initial screening criteria for the selection of potential candidates.
They would be engaged as trainee teachers at NITs. While initially they would assist in teaching, they would simultaneously go through part-time MTech and PhD programs of IITs to acquire higher academic qualifications, which is a prerequisite for faculty at NITs.
The Council of IITs decided that each IIT would establish a Green Office, which would carry out Green Audit and ensure inclusion of green technology related topics/courses in the curriculum.
The Kakodkar Committee Report also emphasizes the need for IITs being in the forefront of development of technology for sustainable growth.
Most of the education and research institutions in Europe and America have adopted Sustainability Agenda and are implementing programs to reduce their Caron footprint, recycle the resources, adopt energy efficiency measures and include sustainability issues in the teaching programs.
As part of this, every student will be required to complete at least one project by a technology application relevant to local neighborhood development relevant to his/her area of expertise/concern.
The Council of IITs also decided to have a greater community engagement and transparency in processes for projects and procurement along with exemplary labour practices.