Cabinet gives the nod to eight new IITs

The government gives formal approval to open eight new IITs , a decision that will enable recruitment of faculty for the six IITs that will begin in less than a week, reports Aloke Tikku.

The government gave formal approval to open eight new IITs on Thursday, a decision that will enable recruitment of faculty for the six IITs that will begin in less than a week.

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With an eye on the elections, the government hurriedly opened six IITs but found it impossible to spend money or recruit faculty to teach the students due to the absence of a formal Cabinet approval. Setting up an IIT costs the government nearly Rs 760 crore.

The Union cabinet also approved creation of a post of director and registrar as well as 30 faculty positions per year for the next three years for each of the eight institutes.

“We will also consequently go ahead to get a formal approval for forming of societies and creating legal entities for the new IITs,” Finance Minister P Chidambaram told reporters here after the cabinet meeting.

He said the new IITs have been approved in Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Orissa, Gujarat, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Among them, six would start their academic sessions from July 23 since the admission process has already been completed for them. The other two — approved in Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh — are expected to start functioning from the 2009-10 academic year.

The institutes in Rajasthan, Punjab and Orissa will start their temporary classes in the campuses of their mentor-institutes at Kanpur, New Delhi and Kharagpur respectively till such time their own facilities are put in place.