Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani has promised a fee waiver for all SC/ST, Dalit and physically challenged students of the 23 branches of the prestigious institution, Indian Institute of Technology.
"Besides a complete fee waiver for these students, those with a family income of less than Rs 5 lakh will be given a 66% concession in the fees," the HRD Minister said.
SCIC, a body comprising IIT directors and senior officials, has adopted the report earlier presented by a sub-committee headed by IIT Bombay Director Devang Khakhar which had suggested hiking fees to Rs 3 lakh and also recommended multiple sources of financing for the IITs. Final decision will require the nod of HRD Minister.
The IITs have 15% reservation for SCs, 7.5% for STs and 27% for OBCs. The 66% concession in fee will benefit a larger number of students from the middle-class and lower middle-class segments. There is no reservations in teaching positions.
The 23 IITs are located in Bhilai, Chennai, Delhi, Dhanbad, Dharwad, Goa, Guwahati, Jammu, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Mumbai, Roorkee, Bhubaneswar, Gandhinagar, Hyderabad, Indore, Jodhpur, Mandi, Palakkad, Patna, Ropar, Titupati and Varanasi.
The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are autonomous public institutes of higher education. They are governed by the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961 which has declared them as institutions of national importance and lays down the powers, duties, and framework for governance etc.
By Premji
