IIIT Bill passed in Rajya Sabha: Five institutes to get 'national importance' status

The government on September 22 passed the IIIT Laws (Amendment) Bill 2020 in the Rajya Sabha. Under this law, five Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) will get the 'institution of national importance' status.

The bill declares five IIITs in public-private partnership (PPP) mode at Surat, Bhopal, Bhagalpur, Agartala and Raichur as 'Institutions of National Importance' by granting them statutory status along with the already existing 15 IIITs under the IIIT (PPP) Act, 2017.

Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank said in the Rajya Sabha that the IIIT Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020 will entitle the institutions to use the nomenclature of Bachelor of Technology or Master of Technology or Ph.D. degree as issued by a university.

Further, this bill will also enable the institutes to attract enough students required to develop a strong research base in the country in the field of information technology.