The government today assured the Lok Sabha that there would be no dearth of funds for any institute of national importance.
Moving a bill to amend National Institutes of Technology, Science Education and Research Act 2007 in the Lok Sabha, HRD minister Prakash Javadekar said the changes will enable two institutes at Berhampur and Tirupati to be governed by the legislation.
With the passage of the Bill, the number of Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISER) will go up to seven from the existing five, he said.
This institutes promote research and innovation in basic sciences, unlike the IITs, he said.
Public expenditure in higher education is the real investment that any country can make because it enables it to shape up its future, Javadekar said.
Every year, the Budget for all IISERs was Rs 900 crore, while it was Rs 300 crore for Indian Institute of Science.
"Every effort is made to ensure that adequate funds are available to various centres of excellence and there will not be any shortage of funds for them," he said.
The focus of the government is to promote quality education and the purpose of quality education is to produce good human beings, he said, adding that subjects of humanities were also taught and research programmes are promoted.
Participating in the debate, Sushmita Deb (Congress) said before according IISER status, the government should address the issue of connectivity to Berhampur which does not have an airport.
Besides, there is a shortage of faculty at the Tirupati institute, she said quoting media reports and adding that the admission to research programmes have also been delayed by one year.
Deb said there was an issue of unemployment as far as engineering graduates are concerned, which points to the fact that skills do not match with the job market requirements.
Out of 8 lakh engineers passing out every year, 5 lakh remain unemployed, she said quoting a government report.
The biggest challenge for these institutes was faculty building, she added.
Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' (BJP) said science and research play important role in development of any country. The government was promoting research and innovation by setting up new institutes, he said.
Mriganka Mahato (TMC) said international ranking of many premier institutes were very low and there was a need to improve this. A committee should be set up to monitor the quality of education and ranking, he said.
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Prabhas Kumar Singh (BJD) said a large number of students were migrating abroad as they were not getting job opportunities here. "This is a big challenge for higher education in India," he said urging the the Ministry to look into the quality of education.
He said Indian universities and institutes do not rank anywhere among the top institutes in the world and sought filling up of vacancies there, saying the best academics should get jobs in these educational institutions.
M Srinivas Rao (TDP) sought a central and a tribal university in Andhra Pradesh, saying "lot of injustice" has been done to the state due to its bifurcation.
Observing that a uniform syllabus, fees and rules should be implemented for the entire country instead of being different in different states, he said "this is important for providing quality education." Rao said focus should be given in making IITs and NITs international level institutes.
P K Biju (CPI-M) said the government has given 'centre of excellence' status to several institutes "but what is the current status of those institutes".
While timely allocation of funds was important for growth of these institutes, there was shortage of faculty and other problems which impacted their quality, he added.
About 95 per cent of funds are allocated to IITs and IIMs and only 2-3 per cent goes to state level universities and institutions, he said, while also expressing concern over rising student suicides in the country.
Citing certain reports, he said every day 20 students commit suicides. "Why is this happening? ... It is a matter of serious concern. Youths are committing suicide," he said, claiming that dalit and reserved category students were killing themselves and demanded action against those responsible for this.
Renuka Buta (YSRCP) sought to make Tirupati an education hub of the country and urged the government to fulfill all the commitments including giving the special category status to Andhra Pradesh.
JD(U) MP Kaushalendra Kumar demanded opening of centres of excellence in Bihar also.
N K Premachandran (RSP) said the disparity in the access to education needs to be bridged. The downtrodden people are deprived of best and quality education, he said and pointed at the rising number of private institutes compared to those run by the government.
Due to this, the poor are being deprived of education, he said, demanding increase in the number of public aided institutions. Increasing private institutions will be a "curse" to the nation, he said, while seeking a review of the structure of the UGC.
Manoj Tiwari (BJP) said the erstwhile UPA government led by Congress had ruined the country's educational system. They made rule as per which students were promoted to the next class without giving any examinations, he said and asked "will this make education the backbone of the country."
The others who participated in the discussion included B B Patil (TRS) and Nihal Chand Chauhan (BJP).
