Jammu and Tirupati are among the six lucky states which will add the gem of IIT to their necklace. Other fours states on the list are:
1.Palkkad (Kerela)
2.Goa
3.Dharwad (Karnataka)
4.Bhilai (Chattisgarh)
On adding new IITS to the county HRD minister Prakash Javadekar said that IITs are the center of excellence and they will continue to remain so and it is the moral duty of every citizen to contribute however it can to their growth. Anything which will lower their standard will not be allowed.
The government is already working on the scheme which is concerned with the funding related to the IITs so the educational, research and infrastructure needs of the institutions can be fulfilled without any constraint.
Government declared that Rs. 20,000 crore will be leveraged through the government's end out of which 1,000 crore will be coming from government partners such as nationalized banks etc.
Proactive steps are also being taken in order to fill the vacant positions in the institutes and they will be filled as soon as possible; said Prakash Javadekar.
When asked about "freedom of expression" in the institutes (pointing to JNU incident), Javadekar said that it is the right of an Indian citizen and it will be protected and government has no intention of taking it away from anybody especially from those who are in institutions and campuses.
On asking about fee hike Mr. Javadekar said that
students from SC, ST communities, from BPL families and student who are
physically challenged receive full fee waiver and students from families where
annual income is less than 9 lakh per annum get education loan at zero percent
interest rate. So, basically fee hike is only for students who are from families
where annual income is less than 9 lakh per annum.