set to get IITs +

passing a bill +

Prakash Javadekar +

centre of excellence +

NEW DELHI: Jammu and Tirupati are among six cities across the country which are, with the Parliament on Tuesdayin this regard.Under the Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Bill 2016, which was approved on Tuesday by the Rajya Sabha by voice vote, IITs will also be started in Palakkad (Kerala), Goa, Dharward (Karnataka) and Bhilai (Chhattisgarh).Earlier, the Lok Sabha had passed on July 25 the Bill which also seeks to bring the Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad, within the ambit of the proposed Act.Replying to a debate on the bill, HRD Ministersaid the IITs are theand they will continue to remain like that."We will not allow anything that will lower their standards. Actually we all should try to improve them further and make them really world class institutes. Therefore quality is absolutely important," he said.Replying to Jairam Ramesh of Congress, who raised the issue of ensuring complete autonomy for the IITs, Javedekar said the HRD Ministry is not there on any board of IITs."MHRD is not even represented on Board of Governors. It is completely run by the Board. We only facilitate in finance and that is where we will concentrate," he said.On funding for the premier institutes, he said there would not be any financial constraints for growth of IITs.The government is already working on a scheme for financing higher education infrastructure needs, particularly research infrastructure requirements, he added.