IIT Council Disagrees With the Fee-Hike Proposal

New Delhi: Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Council, the top decision-making body for the institutions, rejects the recommendation of the Anil Kakodkar committee from the present Rs 50000 per year to more than Rs 2 lakh per year, for the financial self-sufficiency of the IITs.  Presently, the course fee is Rs 50,000 per year. According to the Council such drastic fee hike could act as a restraint for students from enrolling into IITs.

Moreover, the Council, which met on Friday i.e. on January 21, 2011, however, gave in-principle approval for setting up of one technical institute in Mauritius with the help of IITs. The Council has also decided that IIT directors should be appointed through a procedure of open advertisement and not through search committee alone.

As per sources, Kakodkar, who was asked to put forward a roadmap for the IITs' roadmap, was asked to scrutinize various suggestions made during the meeting and rephrase the report. Moreover, the meeting also could not discuss reform in the Joint Entrance Examination and curriculum as T Ramaswamy, Secretary, Department of Science & Technology, was not present. Ramaswamy had prepared a report on the two issues.

In addition, the sources also said that the Council spent a considerable time in discussing the Kakodkar committee report. Many directors felt Kakodkar's suggestion on financial autonomy for IITs was too simplistic and it would be difficult to sustain it through a fee hike alone. Others said the economic model should be reworked. Kapil Sibal, Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister, has said that charging such a high fee could act as a deterrent to students from applying.

(Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com)