15 IIITs declared as Institutes of National Importance

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved Indian Institutes of Information Technology (Public- Private Partnership) Bill, 2017.
Decision in this regard was taken by Union Cabinet meeting chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.

Key Facts

• The Bill will declare the existing IIITs in PPPS as ‘Institutions of National Importance with powers to award degrees.
• This coveted status will entitle them to use the nomenclature of Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) or Master of Technology (M.Tech) or Ph.D degree as issued by Institution or University of National Importance.
• By granting formal degree, IIITs will enhance the prospects of graduating students in job market and will also enable them to attract enough students to develop a strong research base in the country in the field of IT.
• Besides, it will also cater the emerging needs of the industry and the economy as a whole for skilled technical manpower from the talent pool of trained personnel of the institutes. 

The 15 IIITs are: Assam (Guwahati), Andhra Pradesh (Chittoor), Haryana (Sonipat), Gujarat (Vadodara),Himachal Pradesh (Una), Kerala (Kottayam), Jharkhand (Ranchi), Karnataka (Dharwad), Maharashtra (Nagpur & Pune), Rajasthan (Kota), Manipur (Senapati), Tamilnadu (Tiruchirappalli), Uttar Pradesh (Lucknow), Kalyani (West Bengal).

Background

In 2010, the Union Cabinet had approved scheme of setting up of 20 new IIITs in Public Private Partnership (IIIT PPP). But it was not having provision empowering these institutes to grant degrees to its students.

Month: Current Affairs - March, 2017