NEW IITS

Cabinet formally approved eight new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) to be set up across the country as world class engineering institutions at a total cost of Rs.60.80 billion ($1.5 billion).Government also approved the takeover of the Institute of Technology (IT)-Varanasi under the IIT system.IT-Varanasi currently functions under the Benaras Hindu University.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, while the other two - approved in Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh - were expected to start functioning from the 2009-10 academic year.To ensure that the IITs are operationalised at the earliest, the government has sanction one post of director and registrar each for the eight IITs. It has also sanctioned 30 faculty posts for per year.As per the government, the creation of new IITs will enable provision of high quality education for more students in the country, who aspire for top class education. It would also address state/region specific technology related problems of States/UTs situated in the IITs’ ’Zones’.Three existing IITs — Guwahati, Madras and Delhi — have been made ‘mentor institutions’ for the new institutes at Patna, Medak and Rajasthan.Faculty from the Guwahati and Madras IITs will be deployed to teach at makeshift campuses at Patna and Medak. IIT Rajasthan doesn’t even have a ‘makeshift campus’, and will debut from its mentor’s campus at IIT Delhi.. It has also specifically approved the post of a Director in each of the new IITs in the grade of Rs. 26,000 (fixed) and a post of Registrar in the grade of Rs. 16,400-22,400 for each of the new IITs.The Cabinet has also decided to raise the grade of all existing IIT Directors from Rs. 25,000 (fixed) to Rs. 26,000 (fixed).