Patna, (Bihar Times): The Union cabinet on Thursday approved the setting up of eight new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). They will be set up in Bihta near Patna in Bihar, Medak in Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Orissa, Gujarat, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Indore in Madhya Pradesh at a total cost of Rs. 6,080 crores at the rate of Rs. 760 crores per IIT) for six years period, and consequently approval for forming of Societies for creating legal entities for the new IITs. Academic sessions are going to commence in six new IITs from July 23, 2008.
The cabinet also approved in principle approval for taking over the Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University––a constituent unit of the Banaras Hindu University, a Central University, its conversion into an Indian Institute of Technology and integrating it with the IIT system in the country.
The IITs of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Gujarat are going to commence their classes of about 120 students each for B.Tech degree through temporary campuses. In Patna classes will start from Patliputra Polytechnic only to be shifted to Bihta after the own building is completed. The IITs of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Gujarat are going to be mentored by the IITs of Madras, Guwahati and Bombay, respectively. The IITs of Rajasthan, Punjab and Orissa are going to commence their classes on the campuses of their mentor IITs at IIT Kanpur, IIT Delhi and IIT Kharagpur. respectively.
The Cabinet has also approved the creation of 30 faculty posts per year in the first three years of establishment of each of the new IITs and have also specifically approved the post of a Director in each of the new IITs in the grade of Rs. 26,000 (fixed) and a post of Registrar in the grade of Rs. 16,400-22,400 for each of the new IITs. The Cabinet has also decided to raise the grade of all existing IIT Directors from Rs. 25,000 (fixed) to Rs. 26,000. (fixed).
The IITs at Indore in Madhya Pradesh and in Himachal Pradesh are likely to commence their sessions from the next academic year (2009-10).
All the State Governments have identified about 600 acres of land for the location of the new IITs. In case of Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, the Union govt. have accepted the site recommended by the state government and in the rest of the cases, the Site Selection Committee will inspect the offered sites in due course and will give its recommendations to the Ministry.
With the creation of new IITs, high quality technical education will become accessible to more bright students as now hardly two percent of about three lakhs students who appear in the Joint Entrance Exam of IITs can get admission in them. The new IITs will also facilitate the increased output of high quality Engineering and Science graduates, postgraduates and Ph.D.s; Teachers for Engineering and Science subjects at College/University level and R&D and Intellectual Property generation in Engineering and Science.
