IIIT Laws (Amendment) Bill 2020 passed in Rajya Sabha; know about the bill

The Indian Institutes of Information Technology Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020 https://t.co/HpBb3WvkZ0

— Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank (@DrRPNishank) September 22, 2020

Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank in his tweet mentioned that the institutes will now be able to use the nomenclature of Bachelor of Technology (BTech) or Master of Technology (MTech) or PhD degree. “The Bill will also enable the Institutes to attract enough students required to develop a strong #research base in the country in the field of Information Technology,” Nishank tweeted. Earlier, the bill was passed in the Lok Sabha in March.

IIIT Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020 will entitle the institutions to use the nomenclature of Bachelor of Technology (https://t.co/vvRKxDor0g) or Master of Technology (https://t.co/1OEPQ9ufKp) or PhD degree as issued by a University or Institution of National Importance. #IIITBill

— Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank (@DrRPNishank) September 22, 2020

During a debate on the bill in Rajya Sabha, BJP lawmaker Kamakhya Prasad Tasa thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Education Minister Nishank for including the institute in Agartala in the bill. BJD’s Sasmit Patra too supported the bill.

V Vijayasai Reddy of YSRCP said including more institutes in the new law will help students in getting jobs. He urged the government to make India a global education hub and also asked it to consider setting up another IIIT in Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.

The Bill will declare 5 IIITs in Public-Private Partnership mode at Surat, Bhopal, Bhagalpur, Agartala & Raichur as Institutions of National Importance by granting them statutory status along with the already existing 15 IIITs under the IIIT(PPP) Act, 2017.#IIITBill pic.twitter.com/Nj1L8GiLXi

— Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank (@DrRPNishank) September 22, 2020

RCP Singh of JD(U) suggested standardisation of all IIITs and creating a faculty pool for all such institutes. However, raising concerns over the fee structure, K Ravindra Kumar of TDP said all new IIITs are under PPP model and students have to bear all expenses. He said he wondered how the meritorious but poor students would afford it.

He also raised the issue of quality in higher technical education and asked whether there is any provision of quality assessment. Replying to the members, the education minister said technology is one of the high priority areas for this government and it is enhancing the adoption of technology across the sector to raise productivity and standards.

“The New Education Policy along with technology would strengthen the foundation of the New India,” he said. He said the government has given priority to the Northeast in this bill.

“In IIITs, the Government of India contributes 50 per cent and the rest 35 per cent and 15 per cent are from the respective state governments and the industry. While in the case of the Northeast, 50 per cent sum of the industry participation is taken care of by the Government of India,” he said.

On making India an education hub, Nishank said more than 1,000 students from ASEAN countries come for research in IITs. The bill amends the Indian Institutes of Information Technology Act, 2014 and the Indian Institutes of Information Technology (Public-Private Partnership) Act, 2017.

– With PTI inputs