Legislative delay holds up degrees of 1,800 students

With their future in limbo, about 1,800 students of Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University have written to HRD minister Kapil Sibal urging the government to pass the legislation giving their institute legal sanctity. The 'Institutes of Technology (Amendment) bill 2011' has been pending before the Rajya Sabha for almost a year. 

The students of 2010 and 2011 batches have been waiting for their degrees for a year now thanks to the legislative delay. "As the bill is getting delayed in the Rajya Sabha, it is creating serious problems for our future careers. The uncertainty over the conversion of IT-BHU to IIT-BHU is also creating an unhealthy academic atmosphere in the campus,'' the letter said. The communication has been signed by all the students. 

The move to upgrade the institute to an IIT was done after several rounds of consultations and discussions with HRD ministry officials and was passed by Lok Sabha in March 2011. 

The bill seeks to amend the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961, which declares certain institutes of technology to be institutions of national importance and add eight new IITs in Bhubaneswar, Gandhinagar, Hyderabad, Indore, Jodhpur, Mandi, Patna and Ropar. It also seeks to integrate the Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University within the ambit of the Act and is likely to increase its functional autonomy. 

Speaking in Lok Sabha, Sibal had assured agitated BJP members that Banaras Hindu University would not be bifurcated in the process of giving IIT status to its Institute of Technology. The legislation is also expected to address issues of shortage of staff and quality faculty.