Lok Sabha Question No. 2247 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-12-02
Subject: IIT/IIM
Ministry: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Raja Amareshwara Naik

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2247 TO BE ANSWERED ON 02.12.2019

## IIT/IIM

## 2247. SHRI RAJA AMARESHWARA NAIK:

Will  the  Minister  of  HUMAN  RESOURCE  DEVELOPMENT  be  pleased  to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  planned  to  change  the  current  financial structure of the IITs and grant them autonomous status;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the country's premier engineering institutes including the IITs/IIMs are planning to permit academically weak students to exit early, after 3 years, with a B.Sc. degree in engineering;
- (d) if so, the details thereof;
- (e) the  number  of  students  who  dropped  out  from  IIT  during  the  last  five years; and
- (f) the  other  steps  taken  by  the  Government to reduce  the dropout rate of students in IITs/IIMs?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (SHRI RAMESH POKHRIYAL 'NISHANK')

(a) & (b): Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are governed by the Institutes of Technology  Act,  1961  and  Statutes  framed  under  the  Act,  which  inter  alia provides autonomy in the functioning of the IITs,  through Board of Governors constituted for the purpose. At present, there is no proposal under consideration of the Government to grant further autonomy to IITs.

(c) & (d): A proposal to allow those IIT students who are not able to keep pace with  the  required  academic  standards  to  opt  for  B.Sc.  (Engineering)  after  the second semester (instead of being forced out of the course) came for discussion in  the  recent  IIT  Council  meeting.    In  case  of  Indian  Institute  of  Information Technology  (IIITs)  in  Public  Private  Partnership  (PPP)  mode,  the  Coordination Forum chaired by the Minister of Human Resource Development, in its meeting held on 16.10.2019 has approved a similar proposal authorizing the respective Boards of Governors (BoGs) to decide on the modalities for its implementation. There is no such proposal in respect of other premier engineering institutions.

(e) : A total of 7248 students have dropped out from IITs during the last five years. Some  of  the  reasons  for  postgraduate  students  leaving  the  courses midway are the offers for placement and better opportunities. (f) : Government is providing fellowship/Scholarship/Assistantship and tuition  fee  waiver,  as  applicable  to  the  students  pursuing  different  courses  in IITs.  IITs have also initiated various steps to reduce the dropout rate of students in  the  Institutes,  which  includes,  regular  counselling  and  monitoring  of  the academically weak students, providing facilities on campus for the students to de-stress,  sports  facilities,  organization  of  workshops  on  stress  management, problem-solving, etc.  Similarly counselling and career guidance services are also provided  to the students  throughout  the  year  in  all Indian  Institutes  of Management (IIMs) to address the issue of dropouts.

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