Six new IITs in pipeline, ISM Dhanbad to be upgraded

Indian Institutes of Technologies (IITs) seem to be the Indian government’s ray of hope for increasing the level of education in the country, which is why it has decided to open six new IITs, at Tirupati, Palakkad, Dharwar, Bhilai, Goa and Jammu. ISM Dhanbad, on the other hand, will soon get an upgrade to become an IIT.

The Union Cabinet had a meeting that saw it giving an ex post facto approval to amend The Institutes of Technology Act, 1961. The act would now be changed to legally incorporate new IITs at Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh), Palakkad (Kerala), Dharwar (Karnataka), Bhilai (Chhattisgarh), Goa, Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir), while also converting Indian School of Mines (ISM), Dhanbad to an IIT.

"The approval will bring six new Indian Institutes of Technology within the ambit of The Institutes of Technology Act, 1961 and declaring them as the institutions of national importance," said an official statement.

Other than this, the decision to set up NIT, Andhra Pradesh was also approved by the cabinet; the institute has been registered as a Society under the Andhra Pradesh Societies Registration Act, 2001.

The bill, viz. the National Institutes of Technology, Science Education and Research (Amendment) Bill, 2016 for inclusion of the NIT, Andhra Pradesh was also approved.

"The proposed amendments to the NITSER Act, 2007 will ensure a high level of public accountability and increased participation of the stakeholders in the administration and academic activities of the Institute," the statement said.

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