New Delhi: Rajya Sabha passed Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIIT) Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020 in New Delhi  on 22 September 2020. The bill will declare five newly established Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) as institutions of national importance. The five new IIITs set up under the Public Private Partnership mode are in — Surat, Bhopal, Bhagalpur, Agartala, and Raichur.

Union Education Minister Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’  said The Bill will declare 5 IIITs in Public-Private Partnership mode at Surat, Bhopal, Bhagalpur, Agartala & Raichur as Institutions of National Importance by granting them statutory status along with the already existing 15 IIITs under the IIIT (PPP) Act, 2017. The passage of theIIIT  (Amendment) Bill, 2020 will amend the principal acts of 2014 and 2017.

The education minister said that there are 25 IIITs in the country.  Out of which 5 are purely run by the central government and 15 operate under public private partnership (PPP) mode.

The Indian Institutes of Information Technology Act of 2014 and Indian Institutes of Information Technology (Public-Private Partnership) Act, 2017 are the unique initiatives of the Government of India to impart knowledge in the field of Information Technology to provide solutions to the challenges faced by the country. The IIIT Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020 was passed in Lok Sabha on 20th March 2020.

Shri Pokhriyal further said that IIIT Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020 will entitle the institutions to use the nomenclature of Bachelor of Technology (http://B.Tech) or Master of Technology (http://M.Tech) or PhD degree as issued by a University or Institution of National Importance. The 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.

The Act will declare the remaining 5 IIITs-PPP along with the existing 15 Indian Institutes of Information Technology in Public Private Partnership modeas ‘Institutions of National Importance’ with powers to award degrees. This will entitle them to use the nomenclature of Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) or Master of Technology (M.Tech) or Ph.D  degree as issued by a University or Institution of National Importance.  It 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.