On July 19, 2017, Lok Sabha has passed a significant Bill that enables 15 Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) to award degrees. All these 15 IIITs are functioning under Public & Private Partnership as institutes of national importance. Responding to the debate over IIIT Bill 2017, HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar mentioned that education was not merely an issue of political partisanship. It is an issue of national policy.
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The statement of reasons and objects of IIIT Bill 2017 indicates that IIITs that come under Public & Private Partnership must be given statutory status and empower the institutes to grant degrees. HRD Ministry has taken up the issue in Lok Sabha on a priority basis, as students from five of the Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) are completing their graduation in July 2017 and August 2017. All these students will receive degrees now.
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Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar introduced IIIT Bill in Parliament in April 2017. With the approval of Lok Sabha, these 15 IIITs will also get the authority to conduct examinations, grant diplomas and various other academic distinctions.
Union HRD Minister also assured that the government would take immediate steps to fill up the vacancies in higher learning institutes. He further indicated that the vacancies related to Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes had not been fulfilled in JNU or Jawaharlal Nehru University for the past 10 years which are now under process.
The government is also planning to setup 20 more IIITs under Public & Private Partnership.