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Here are some excerpts of the Report prepared by Parliamentary Standing Committee on HRD Ministry. It was presented to the Rajya Sabha for discussion and action by HRD Ministry.
Complete report can be viewed at:
http://164.100.47.5/newcommittee/reports/EnglishCommittees/Committee%20on%20HRD/228.pdf
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COMPOSITION OF THE COMMITTEE ON HRD
(2010-11)
RAJYA SABHA
1. Shri Oscar Fernandes Chairman
2. Shrimati Mohsina Kidwai
3. Dr. K. Keshava Rao
4. Shri Prakash Javadekar
5. Shri M. Rama Jois
6. Shri Pramod Kureel
7. Shri N.K. Singh
8. Shrimati Kanimozhi
9. Dr. Janardhan Waghmare
10. Shri N. Balaganga
LOK SABHA
11. Shri Kirti Azad
12. Shri P.K. Biju
13. Shri Jeetendra Singh Bundela
14. Shri Angadi Suresh Chanabasappa
15. Shrimati J. Helen Davidson
16. Shri P.C. Gaddigoudar
17. Shri Rahul Gandhi
18. Shri Deepender Singh Hooda
19. Shri Prataprao Ganpatrao Jadhao
20. Shri Suresh Kalmadi
21. Shri P. Kumar
22. Shri Prasanta Kumar Majumdar
23. Capt. Jai Narain Prasad Nishad
24. Shri Sheesh Ram Ola
25 Shri Tapas Paul
26 Shri Brijbhushan Sharan Singh
27 Shri Ashok Tanwar
28 Shri Joseph Toppo
29 Dr. Vinay Kumar Pandey ‘Vinnu’
30 Shri P. Viswanathan
31 Shri Madhu Goud Yaskhi
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PREFACE
I, the Chairman of the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resource Development, having been authorized by the Committee, present this Two Hundred and Twenty-eighth Report of the Committee on the Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2010.
2. The Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2010 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 30 August, 2010. In pursuance of Rule 270 relating to Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committees, the Chairman, Rajya Sabha in consultation with the Speaker, Lok Sabha referred the Bill to the Committee on 15 September, 2010 for examination and report within three months.
3. The Committee considered the Bill in two sittings held on 1 October, and 25 November, 2010.
4. On 1 October, 2010, the Committee heard the Secretary, Department of Higher Education on various provisions of the Bill.
5. The Committee, while drafting the Report, relied on the following:-
(i) Background Note on the Bill and Note on the clauses of the Bill received from the Department of Higher Education;
(ii) Presentation made and clarifications given by the Secretary, Department of Higher Education; and
(iii) Feedback received from the Department on the questionnaire and the issues raised by the Members during the course of the oral evidence of the Secretary.
7. The Committee considered the Draft Report on the Bill and adopted the same in its meeting held on 25 November, 2010.
8. For facility of reference, observations and recommendations of the Committee have been printed in bold letters at the end of the Report.
NEW DELHI; OSCAR FERNANDES
NOVEMBER 25, 2010 Chairman,
AGRAHAYANA 4, 1932 (Saka) Department-related Parliamentary
Standing Committee on Human Resource Development.
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I. Introduction
1.1 The Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2010 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 30 August 2010 and referred to the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resource Development on 15 September, 2010 for examination and report thereon.
1.2 The Institutes of Technology Act, 1961 was enacted by the Parliament in December, 1961 to declare certain Institutes of Technology to be the institutions of national importance. There were seven IITs situated at Kharagpur, Bombay, Delhi, Kanpur, Madras, Guwahati and Roorkee in the beginning of the XIth Plan which were governed by the afore mentioned Act. The Cabinet in its meeting held on 17 July, 2008 approved the establishment of eight more IITs at Bhubaneswar, Gandhinagar, Hyderabad, Patna, Jodhpur, Ropar, Mandi and Indore. All the eight new IITs have been registered as societies under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, pending their inclusion in the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961.
1.3 The Government of India in pursuance of its overall vision to have more Indian institutes of technology level institutions in the country had constituted an Expert Committee to identify certain academic institutions which had the potential for being upgraded to the level of the Indian Institutes of Technology. The Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University was identified as one of such institutions. This is in line with the overall thinking of the Government to have more Indian Institutes of Technology level institutions by upgrading existing institutions as well as creating new Indian Institutes of Technology.
1.4 The Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2010 seeks to amend the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961 with a view to achieve the following objectives:-
(a) to include eight new Indian Institutes of Technology and declare them as institutions of national importance;
(b) to declare the Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University as an institution of national importance and integrate it with the Indian Institutes of Technology system;
(c) to empower the Central Government to notify 'Zones' in the country for advising the State Government and the Union territory included in its zone in the matter of technical education and any technical issue referred by them to the institute for advice;
(d) to cast upon the Indian Institutes of Technology, a duty to support States or Union Territories technologically in their 'Zones' and address their technological problems; and
(e) to incorporate the newly set up Indian Institutes of Technology and Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University), Varanasi under the provisions of the Act.
1.5 The Secretary, Department of Higher Education during her presentation before the Committee stated that the mandate of the Department was to enhance access, equity and quality of higher education in the country and the existing IITs were the prime example in this direction. The proposed legislation before the Committee indicated a significant step in fulfilling the aspirations of young students so far as higher education is concerned. The Committee was informed that the objective for bringing about the present amendments in the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961 was three-fold. The primary objective was to include the eight-plus one institutions under the Umbrella Act. Secondly, it would empower the Central Government to notify zones in the country for IITs to be able to advise State Governments and oversee technical education institutions in the States and Union territories. Lastly, the IITs would also be entrusted with the responsibility to oversee technological problems of the States/Union territories located in the zone placed in their charge.
The Secretary drew the attention of the Committee to the fact that with the enhanced number of IITs, it would be possible to achieve the objective of increasing the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education.
1.6 About the Department’s preparedness with respect to infrastructure, faculty and the contingency plan with respect to the eight new IITs, it was informed that the Department was getting adequate support from the State Governments in providing infrastructure till permanent campus/site for these institutions was earmarked. It was further informed that the Department was committed to providing infrastructure and faculty to the students on a year-wise basis so as to ensure that the entire teaching-learning process could continue without any hindrance. As for the conversion of Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University into an IIT and its having a separate structure, it was informed that in order to conform to the recommendations of the Yash Pal Committee, the Department has been endeavoring to ensure that multiple disciplines were taught in all the institutions of the higher education. As IT, BHU already had the history of teaching multiple disciplines, it was advisable that it should be integrated with IIT system for synergy and at the same time retain its linkage with the parent institution.
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RECOMMENDATIONS/OBSERVATIONS AT A GLANCE
II CONSULTATION PROCESS
The Committee observes that the Institutes of Technology Act had been in force for more than fifty years. During such a long period of its implementation, both the Department and different IITs would have received valuable suggestions for bringing in amendments in the Act. Not only this, with phenomenal advancement in technical education across the globe, our premier technical institutions like IITs needed to function, keeping pace with the fast changing scenario. The Committee would, accordingly, like to emphasize that the institutes of technology were required to function on a larger scale by adopting inter-disciplinary approach, collaborating with other institutions and were supposed to be the institutes of national importance. It would be, therefore, advisable to undertake a comprehensive review of the Act to include all such features that may bring these IITs at par with global practices, norms and standards of governance, finance, teaching, research and collaboration. (Para 2.3)
The Committee is happy to note that the Department has already constituted a Committee under the Chairmanship of Prof. Anil Kakodkar in February, 2010 to suggest a roadmap for the autonomy and future of the IITs which inter-alia would also review the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961. It was further informed that Kakodkar Committee was likely to submit its Report by the end of November, 2010 after which a comprehensive amendment of the Institutes of Technology Act may be undertaken. (Para 2.4)
III Committee's observations/recommendations on various clauses of the Bill are given in the succeeding paragraphs:-
Clause 2: Amendment of Section 2
3.2 Committee in principle welcomes the inclusion of eight newly established IITs and conversion of IT, BHU into the system of IITs. The Committee hopes that concerted efforts would be made by all concerned to make these institutions ‘institutions of national importance’ in the real sense. (Para 3.2)
Clause 3: Section 3: Definitions
The Committee observes that earlier the seven IITs at Delhi, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Roorkee, Bombay, Madras and Guwahati were covering the entire country. Now with eight more IITs at various places, distribution of States and Union territories would be more balanced. While making a comparative analysis of the existing zones and reconstituted zones, the Committee finds that with the exception of IIT, Guwahati, number of States/UTs falling under the jurisdiction of other existing IITs has been reduced. The Committee would, however, like to point out that while IIT, Roorkee (earlier University of Roorkee) which was earlier having Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Uttaranchal states has been assigned now Haryana and Uttarakhand, there is no mention of any zone with respect to IIT (Banaras Hindu University) Varansi. Reasons for this exception are not known to the Committee. The Committee would like to point out that the immediate impact of this omission would be that the Board of Governors of IIT (Banaras Hindu University) Varanasi would not be having a State nominee. Secondly, the proposed amendments in section 6 relating to ‘Powers’ of Institute’ where under every IIT is envisaged to support and collaborate with technical institutions located in the zone and advise the State Government/UT in its zone in the matter of technical education would not be applicable on IIT (Banaras Hindu University) Varansi.
The Committee, accordingly, recommends that corrective steps in this direction need to be taken by bringing in required modification in the proposed amendments. (Para 3.5)
Clause 7: Section 6: Powers of Institute
The Committee takes note of the reservations of the Ministry of Finance which had pointed out that by virtue of these new clauses, an obligation had been cast upon the IITs to strive to meet the technological needs of the States in their zone as they would be required to provide training, facilitate study visits, share laboratory and other resources with technical education institutions located in their zones. Not only this, the new clauses would considerably constrain the autonomy of these Institutes by making the duty mandatory and forcing the Institutes to undertake activities for which they may not be having the capacity. It was also pointed out by the Ministry of Finance that undertaking activities as envisaged in proposed sub-clauses (ma) and (mb) may further constrain the resources of the Institutes in performing their primary duties of imparting technical education and carrying out research.
The Committee also takes note of the views of the Ministry of Science and Technology which had observed that the proposed duty of meeting the technological needs of the States/UTs appeared good in principle. However, a larger support system would be required for IITs in terms of increased number of faculty members, well-equipped labs with larger space capacity etc. (Para 3.8)
Clause 8: Section 11: Board of Governors
The Committee is of the view that composition of the Board of Governors should be uniform for all the IITs. The Committee, however, observes that with the proposed amendments the Board of Governors of IT(BHU) will be having, besides the Chairman and Vice-Chairman, nine members, with Vice-Chairman and two persons to be nominated by the Executive Council of BHU from amongst its members. Secondly, applicability of any zone in respect of IT(BHU) being not clear, there will be no nomination from any State. In contrast, all the other IITs will be having besides a Chairman, seven members and State nominees, slightly varying in accordance with the zone assigned to them. The Committee is of the view that composition of the Board of Governors IT(BHU) vis-à-vis other IITs needs to be reviewed.
If the post of Vice-Chairman holds good for IT(BHU) it should prove viable for other IITs also. Secondly, linkage with BHU can be easily maintained by having one member to be nominated by the Executive Council of BHU. (Para 3.14)
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(if you having troubles, try posting your comment on this page or send an email to chronicle @ itbhuglobal.org)Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University
Varanasi 221005, UP