Complete autonomy in the offing for IITs

After the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) might get complete autonomy. The government is considering giving more autonomy to the premier technical institutes in terms of deciding their fee structure and appointments, sources in the HRD Ministry told DNA. 

Complete autonomy to the institutes for deciding the fee structure would mean more fees for the older IITs and less fees for the newer ones. 

However, the kind of autonomy that could be granted to the IITs would be different from that granted to the IIMs, considering the varied nature of the institutes. The IIMs are postgraduate institutes while the IITs are largely for undergraduates.  

The demand for autonomy was mooted by the 23 IITs, including the old and new ones, in a recently held meeting of the IIT Council chaired by Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar. 

According to sources, the minister showed a positive response to the demand. 

“One of the issues that was discussed in the council’s meeting was autonomy for the IITs. Even as the IITs are independent institutions, they are dependent on the HRD Ministry and the IIT Council for many aspects, such as deciding the fee structure, appointing the director, etc. Even the appointment of a professor has to go through the Ministry. This makes things very difficult for both the Ministry and the institutes,” said a source who’s aware of the developments.