Lok Sabha Approves Five New IITs, Upgrades ISM Dhanbad to IIT

The news of adding five new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) surfaced first in the last week of June. It was reported at that time that in a meeting chaired by the PM Narendra Modi, the union cabinet gave approval to the establishment of five new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) in India. With the addition of five new IITs, students who used to miss a seat in any of the current IITs with a small margin will now get a better chance and possibly find themselves in IITs.

In the latest move, the addition of five new IITs and upgrading Indian School of Mines (ISM) Dhanbad to an IIT under the law has a been approved by the lower house (Lok Sabha). The opening of five new IITs and upgrading ISM Dhanbad to IIT marks Modi government's move for 'Sabko Shiksha Acchi Shiksa’ (good education for all).

The new IITs is to be established at Dharwar in Karnataka, Palakkad in Kerala, Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh, Bhilai in Chhattisgarh, Goa and Jammu in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. In addition to this, Indian School of Mines (ISM) Dhanbad has also been upgraded to an IIT under the law.

HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar also said that students belonging to the SC, ST, BPL categories and physically challenged will have the full waiver of fees in the IITs NITs.  Additionally, students with family income below 9lak/per annum will also get zero percent education loan.  

Earlier, the cabinet had given its ex-post facto approval to amend IIT Act 1961 for incorporating new IITs on the said places and promoted ISM Dhanbad to an IIT level. In addition to this, the cabinet also gave ex-post facto approval to set up an NIT, Andhra Pradesh, which has been registered as a society under the AP Societies Registration Act, 2001.