Lok Sabha has passed the bill for providing sic new IITs, including one at Jammu and Kashmir under the Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Bill 2016, new IITs will also be started in Palakkad, Goa, Dharward and Bhilai. Replying to a debate on the bill, HRD minister Prakash Javadekar said the government has formed High Education Financial Agency (HEFA) to upgrade the infrastructure. The government’s credo is ‘Sabko Shiksha Acchi Shiksa (Good Education to All) and has taken a number of efforts in this regards, he said.

On the fee structure, he said students from the ST and SC communities, from the Below Poverty Line (BPL) category and physically challenged have full rejection on fees in the IITs and NITs. He said, those whose family income is below Rs 9 lakh per annum also get zero per cent education loan.\

He said the government has been working to provide Wi-Fi connectivity of 1 GBPS network to all universities in the country which will slowly be extended to the colleges affiliated to it as well in next two years. In future, , the government is also planning to take it at the television level for a wider access he added.  Javadekar also sought to dispel the notion that the funding in IITs have gone down, saying this year, the government has allocated Rs 4035 crore to the IITs as against Rs 3855 crore the last year.

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