FULL TRANSCRIPT
Sir, I rise to support this Bill. I will just make a few points here. As mentioned earlier, the budgetary allocations in respect of these institutes has to be increased to have the proper effect. And the total number of seats allocated in all the seven institutes is inadequate considering the hopes and aspirations of the youth. We need to take a positive view on this because more than 55% of the youth in this country are unable to get seats and employment in educational institutions and in other sectors of the economy. Due importance should be given to the youth.
Unfortunately we have noticed that the HRD Ministry is habitually increasing fees. Recently there was a fee hike of 127% in these institutes and by 79% in NITs. This hike in fees makes it quite impossible for certain sections of our society to gain admission. This is quite a problem in other institutions also. Even for management institutes, the fees that are charged are quite high. In fact, recently people had come and met me. They are saying that they cannot afford higher education or technical education because of the cost of the education.
Sir, the other issue is that a lot of research is being done in these institutes and we have observed over the years that the fruits of research never devolve to the sectors for which this research is done. Research produces doctorates and PhDs but there is a gap between devolution of this research to the different sectors of the economy. The internal administration of these institutions needs to be looked into.
We really need to know the state of higher technical education, of research. So, I would suggest that the Minister should consider putting out an Annual Report or a White Paper on the status of such institutes and of the overall status in the country.
Thank you.