IITs too could go a fee hike

After Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), the nation's premier IITs may see a hike in tution fee, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Monday.

Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh replied in affirmative when asked in Rajya Sabha whether Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) had also proposed to increase their fee on the lines of IIMs.

He said that "the Standing Committee of IIT Council (SCIC) has recommended to increase in tution fee for B.Tech and M.Tech courses."

The Board of Governors (BOG) of six IIMs located at Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kolkata, Lucknow, Indore and Kozhikode had decided to increase the fees of the Post Graduate Programme (PGP) from the next academic year 2008-2010.

Singh, however, did not say what is the quntum of fee hike at IITs being considered or when a decision would be taken.

To a separate question, Minister of State for Human Resource Development Daggubati Purandareswari said there was no proposal before the government as of now to set up an independent Regulatory Authority for Higher Education.

"This (setting up of a regulatory body) requires wide consultations with various ministeries and departments involved. No consensus has been reached as yet (on the issue)," she said, adding the regulator would not be set up unless a consensus was reached.

The National Board of Accredition under the AICTE and National Assessment and Accredition Council of the UGC review course curriculum and facilities at institutes before giving accredition, she said.

Purandareswari said the task force on Strengthening Basic Science Research in Universities headed by Prof MM Sharma has observed that there was no formal linkage between universities and national-level research institutions.

It also observed that "the number of Ph.Ds in Science and Engineering disciplines from Indian Universities is quite low vis-a-vis the number of M.Sc/B.Tech when compared to what it is in the US, UK, Germany and Japan," she said.

The Minister said the central government's share in the total spending on academic research in the country was 62.6 per cent while the state government's share was 8.5 per cent.

Higher education institutions accounted for four per cent and public sector another 4.5 per cent. The share of private sector in research was only 20.3 per cent.

The allocation for the Scientific Department has almost tripled to Rs 73,304 crore in the XIth Five Year Plan Period (2007-12) as against Rs 25,000 crore in the previous plan.

Spending on research was only 0.81 per cent of the GDP and the nation gave 1.91 per cent of the research papers worldwide. In comparison, China accounts for 2.62 per cent of the research papers worldwide, she said.

In 2005-06, 18,730 doctrates were awarded in the country, she added.