A month after the tag of Institution of Eminence (IoE) was bestowed upon two top Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) institutes by the Centre, the Human Resource Development Ministry is all set to move forward to provide them greater autonomy, giving them greater freedom to decided on their fee and course structures. According to an Indian Express report, the Prakash Javadekar-led ministry is considering to set IIT Delhi and IIT Bombay free from the control of the IIT Council.
The ministry is considering to take this big move as the Institutions of Eminence tag that was awarded to the institutes has granted the two establishments greater autonomy in comparison with other higher education institutions. As an IoE, IIT Delhi and Bombay should be free to decide their tuition fee for domestic and foreign students. Along with this, now, they can also have a flexible course duration and structure.
However, they still come under the control of the IIT Council, that has the power to decide tuition fee and course duration for the programmes run by them. The IIT council is headed by the HRD Minister and it is the highest decision-making body for all the IITs. While it controls the activities of the 23 premiere technical institutes, it advises them on the matters of fee and course duration. It also lays down policy regarding cadres, the method of recruitment and others.
“We want to remove contradictions. On one hand, as IoEs, the two IITs have extensive autonomy, but, under the IIT Act, they are still bound by the decisions of the IIT Council. This matter could be discussed at the upcoming meeting of the IIT Council on August 21,” Higher Education Secretary R Subrahmanyam said, adding that the review of the fee charged to foreign students is on the meeting agenda, and the matter to free the two institutes is yet to be discussed in the same meeting.
UGC’s ‘Institutions of Eminence Deemed to be Universities Regulations, 2017’ was approved by the Union Cabinet in the month of August last year. Its regulation are aimed at creating an enabling architecture for 10 public and 10 private institutions to emerge as world-class institutions since the country has little representation in the international ranking of educational institutions.
