Orissa education and human resource development

The Statesman, Aug 29, 2007
Jitu Mishra

BHUBANESWAR, Aug 28: Orissa which was earlier known for all wrong reasons like starvation deaths, child sale, high unemployment has now become the most favoured destination for global investors attracting the likes of POSCO, Arcelor Mittal, Sterlite, Vedanta, Tata’s etc.
Backed by its abundant mineral resources it has already signed over 60 MoUs in steel, aluminum, power and other sectors ensuing an investment to the tune of Rs 4 lakh crores.
As stated recently by Industry secretary Mr. Ashok Dalwai, various project proposals including those of POSCO and Arcelor Mittal are at different stages of implementation and the government is hopeful that within the next 8-10 years, these plants would be commissioned.
The problem, however, is the non-availability of enough manpower with the specific skills which will be heavily required by these industries which are both technology and labour intensive, observe educationists and industrial circles here.
Despite some initiatives the state by and large seems completely un-prepared for meeting the demand for the manpower that will be required as these projects roll out.
The question is, how the state, which ranks 2nd in the country in terms of unemployment growth rate (as per NSSO report ’07) and home to around 10 lakh unemployed people, would cope up with the situation.
A glimpse at the projected employment opportunities to be created by of some of these mega projects reflects the huge gap.
According to a Social Cost Benefit Analysis of the proposed 12 MTPA integrated Greenfield Steel Project of POSCO-India, prepared by the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), the project would create 18,000 direct employment opportunities in iron & steel production sector while simultaneously generating 15,000 employments in iron ore mining sector over a period of 30 years.
The report also says that if all these direct & indirect employment opportunities of the project including the ones that will be generated as linkage effect in the manufacturing, trade, construction, agro-based businesses such as farming, animal husbandry etc., hospitality & services sectors are taken into account the employment effect of the project will be 8.7 lakh person-years over the period of 30 yrs.
Arcelor Mittal which also proposes to set up a steel plant of similar capacity though has assigned MN Dastur & Co. for preparation of the comprehensive study report, the preliminary estimates say that the project would create 20,000 direct and indirect employment opportunities.
Apart from these two companies, there are several others in the fray and some of them have even started initial or trial production.
If we go by the simple ratio of production output and employment generation put up by NCAER; the crude steel sector would generate 0.692 person-years of employment per Rs 1 lakh of output while iron ore sector would create 0.354 person-years for the same output.
More over, realization of all these projects will stimulate other industries in the state, as a Linkage Effect, which will impact job creation in related sectors.
The ancillary and downstream industries and infrastructure development sector also promise a lot many employment opportunities and scope for entrepreneurship for the unemployed in the state.
Opportunities of such huge number of employment are to benefit both the technical as well as the non-technical workforce, in the state, which is presently characterized by abundant manpower but plagued by the problems of unemployment, underemployment and migration of labour.
Human resource development experts feel that the government should develop an action plan with the help of companies and technical institutions to groom the manpower so that maximum number of talents from Orissa get employment by the time the projects start operating.
As said by Infosys BPO Chairman Mr. Mohandas Pai during his recent visit, Orissa should first put efforts to build a pool of skilled professionals in the state if it wishes to capitalize on the employment opportunities.
The government decision to open a branch of Central Tool Room & Training Centre at Kalinga Nagar Industrial Complex, in Jajpur District, POSCO-India’s Human Resource Development Training Centre on 7 acres of land and the Tata Steel’s Technical Training Center at Gopalpur are some noticeable efforts in enhancing the employability of the local people.
But, more & more companies need to be encouraged to set up technical institutes such as ITIs & ITCs to prepare manpower as the annual turn out out of such skilled workforce in the state is 21,912 from out of 24 Govt. & 152 private ITIs & ITCs in the state (As per Govt. of Orissa data for the year 2004-05).
But the fact is that many of them, around two-third pass outs even lack of technical skills, practical exposure as well as domain knowledge and fail to meet the industry standards, as pointed out by a leading automobile manufacturer.
The need of the hour is to improve on the standard of the present technical education in the state and strengthening the industry-institution linkage. Maximum advantage needs to be taken from the Biju Pattnauk National Steel Institute (BPNSI), set up by Ministry of Steel at Puri. Sensing the huge requirement of technical manpower and the urgent need of reviving the technical education, initiatives need to be started immediately to set right the technical education scenario in the state.
Lack of effort in this direction could spell doom in the hopes of the unemployed in the state as they would be wanting in required skills.

I came across the IIIT proposal that Orissa had prepared in 1997. Here it is (7MB). Since that proposal, its been 10 years and finally we will have the IIIT. During these 10 years many IIITs were established in other states: Gwalior (1997), Hyderabad (1998), Allahabad (1999), Bangalore (1999), Kolkata (2000), Pune, Kerala, Jabalpur and Amethi (Campus of Allahbad).

Hindustan Times reports on this. Following are some excerpts.

The HRD Ministry has proposed that English learning should be made mandatory for all students from class III to enhance their computer learning skills and for better chances of employment.

For the first time, HRD Ministry and Planning Commission has linked English learning with computer education. In a bid to introduce computer education in all the government schools from upper primary level, the government wants that English should be taught from class III. …

The government in the 11th Five-Year Plan wants that schools getting fund under Sarva Siksha Abhiyan should introduce English. The final decision rests with the state governments, as education is a state subject, the official said. “From our consultation with the state governments it appears that they are not adverse to the idea,” an official said.

Under the plan, the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) will prepare training modules for the teachers on English to be taught at the primary level. “We want to cover all government school students under the Information, Communication and Training (ICT) programme and that cannot happen without adequate knowledge of English,” he said.

Some states like Andhra Pradesh have already introduced English as a compulsory subject from class I.

With the Centre stressing on improving employability of students passing from public schools, the ministry expects other states to follow the suit. The government is willing to provide additional funds for ICT at primary level, if the states make English as a mandatory.

New Indian Express reports on this. Following are some excerpts.

This is the second time in a month the Higher Education Department increased the student intake capacity of junior and degree colleges. Earlier on July 12, 822 seats were added in Plus Two Science and Commerce in six government colleges.

Gangadhar Meher (GM) Autonomous College, Sambalpur, will have 96 more seats in Plus Three Commerce in addition to the existing strength of 288. The students strength in Statistics in GM Junior College has been increased from 48 to 80. However, the Science seats in the Plus Two level has remained unchanged at 256.

In NC Autonomous College, Jajpur, Commerce seats in degree level have been increased to 128 from 96.

The State Government has approved the proposal of Ramadevi Women’s College here to open Biotechnology as a self financing course. The college will have 32 seats in B.Sc Biotechnology from the ensuing academic session. Earlier, permission was granted to Government College, Rourkela, to open 32 seats in B.Sc Computer Science in self-financing mode.

This time the Government approved 176 Science seats in four junior colleges. While SCS College, Puri, will have 48 more seats in addition to 304 now, Vikram Dev College, Jeypore, Government Women’s College, Sambalpur, and Fakir Mohan Junior College, Balsore, will have 32 more seats each.

The present capacity of Vikram Dev College and Government Women’s College, Sambalpur, in Plus Two Science is 128 each while FM Junior College has 256 seats.

Plus Two Commerce seats in SCS College has been increased by 32 seats taking the total strength to 160 while in FM Junior College additional 64 seats has been approved as against 128.

In Humanities, 32 more seats have been approved for Government Women’s College, Sambalpur, as against the existing capacity of 192 seats.

Tathya.in has a biographical article on Prof. Gopal Nayak. Following are some excerpts.

Prof. Nayak is the product of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur was born at Berhampur in Ganjam district to a family of teachers.

An electrical engineer with a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from IIM Bangalore did his Ph. D from IIT, Kharagpur.

He has done his Ph. D under the guidance of Prof. Damodar Acharya who was the Vice Chancellor of BPUT, Chairman of AICTE and at present the Director of IIT, Kharagpur.

Prof. Nayak has spent a few years on Industry.

He has worked for Nelco in Mumbai in the product development area and for NTPC in the Procurement automation area.

Prof. Nayak has spent about 20 years in academics.

He is one of the founding Professors of Xavier Institute of Management (XIMB), Bhubaneswar.

As the Professor of Information Systems, he was instrumental in transforming XIMB into the most technology intensive campus in India.

XIMBans give credit to him in creating several firsts management education field: a campus network, providing PC to each student, making Internet accessible 24×7 and giving a technology orientation to the curriculum at XIMB.

He held important positions at XIMB such as the Dean (Academics), IT services and Admissions Co-ordinator.

Prof. Nayak’s most notable contribution is development of Academic Information System (AIS) and PAMIS.

The AIS is being used by many top business schools in the country such as XLRI Jamshedpur, IIM Indore, NITIE Mumbai.

PAMIS has been implemented in 314 blocks and 30 DRDAs in Orissa and is one of the most successful e-governance projects in Orissa.

With this background the Government of Orissa has roped in Prof. Nayak for the IIIT.

With a director of such background IIIT Bhubaneswar should also start offering degrees that relate to business and information systems such as MBA and MIS (Master in Information Systems). One may note that some of the IIITs, such as IIITM Gwalior, do offer such degrees.

Pioneer reports on this teaming up to give training to selected children from several Tribal department run schools. Following are some excerpts.

The SC & ST Research and Training Institute (SCSTRTI) under the ST & SC Development Department has been organising a number of training programmes for the teachers as well as students of tribal schools to promote effective education among the tribals.

The institute, in collaboration with the Institute of Mathematics and Application (IMA) headed by eminent mathematician Professor Swadhin Pattnaik, identified 47 meritorious tribal students of Class VI from different Tribal Department-run schools and provided them an eight-day-long residential training course from July 17 to 24 to prepare them for the Mathematics Olympiad.

The training programme is considered to be unique and innovative, director of the institute, AB Ota, indicated that more and more such programmes would be held in future in the interest of tribal education.

Hindustan Times reports that IISc is looking for additional land for its expansion. Following is the news item on that:

The nearly century-old famed Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore intends to build a new campus, twice its size, to meet much of its future expansion needs.

IISc Director Prof P Balaram said the institute of higher learning is in discussion with the government and has requested to allot it land somewhere closeby that can be utilised for the expansion activities.

"I would like to think that if one is going to take a very long term view, one would actually look for a campus of at least twice the size of this one," Balaram told PTI in Bangalore.

"The reason is that there are many, many things which have to be done in Bangalore like greater industry connection with research labs...All this needs space somewhere in the neighbourhood."

The current land-holding of the IISc, which is ranked highly in the international academic field, is 443 acres. It's celebrating its centenary year in 2009.

"Right now, we are extremely constrained by the growth of Bangalore. We are completely covered on all sides. There is little scope here (the existing campus) for future expansion," Balaram said.

IISc, meanwhile, is currently in the throes of modernisation. It is building new laboratories for aerospace engineering, biology, physics, nano electronics, nano science and nano engineering in the existing campus.

"We are also building a new library. Libraries have changed a great deal...Everything is becoming very much more electronic and it's going to be, I guess, very much more elctronic than what is today," he said.

IISc, Balaram said, is also building two students' hostels. "This will automatically permit a little bit expansion of students' strength."

According to him, part of the funding for the modernisation and expansion activities would come from the special grant of Rs 100 crore announced by the Finance Minister two years ago, as also from allocation in the 11th Plan.

He also said the IISc is keen to increase the clinical interface of its research activities both in biology and in engineering.

"Only way to increase the clinical interface is to have a fair amount of inhouse research which is clinically directed. This would mean setting up of some kind of a bio-medical centre at a point in future."

Asked if the IISc has plans to introduce under-graduate programmes, Balaram said the issue is still being discussed internally, with some supporting it and others saying it's not a good idea.

Considering that NISER would like to grow up to be an IISc, it must secure adequate land now, before it is too late to find adjacent land. Having parts of an institute in one place and another part in another place will not be as cohesive. So adequate steps should be taken now.

The new web page of Institute of Mathematics and Applications is http://www.iomaorissa.org/index.html.

(Thanks to Sandip babu for the pointer.)

National Board of higher mathematics (NBHM) of the Department of Atomic Energy offers scholarships for students pursuing post graduate in Mathematics. Application for Scholarship for Post Graduate Studies (MA/MSc) in Mathematics for the academic year 2007-2008, in PDF and Word formats are available. Questions papers of previous years are available at these links: 2005 and 2006. The last date for the receipt of completed applications is July 30, 2007.

Following are some other opportunities provided by NBHM.

• Research Awards for Students
• Post-Doctoral Fellowships
• Teacher Fellowships
• Short Term Visits to Institutions in India
• Travel Assitance for Mathematicians
• Visiting Professors
• Ramanujan Professorship
• Assistance for Conferences
• Instructional Schools
• Grant-In-Aid for Research Schemes
• Support to Libraries
• Scholarships at Master’s Level
• Scholarships for Undergraduate Studies in Mathematics
• Information about the Mathematics Olympiad (PDF format)

Sambada reports the inauguration of an Apparel training center in Bhubaneswar. (There are 20 such centers now in India.) It also mentions land allotment with respect to IIHT Baragarh. Finally it mentions that more apparel training centers may be opened in Nuapatna, Sambalpur, Rourkela and Baragarh. Following is the news item from Sambada.

Hindu reports on a draft bill with 16 new central universities. Following are excerpts of that report.

The Union Human Resource Development Ministry is ready with a draft Bill for establishing 16 Central universities across the country.

The draft of the umbrella legislation that will govern all the new proposed Central universities — for the first time — has been sent to various Ministries for their comments. All Central universities so far have been established under different Acts.

As of now, there are only 22 Central universities in the country with Delhi having as many as four while 16 States have none. The proposed universities are believed to have been modelled as unitary, non-affiliating universities on the pattern of the Jawaharlal Nehru and Hyderabad universities.

The States identified for setting up these universities in the next five years at an estimated cost of Rs 5,000 crore in addition to the annual grants are Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat, Haryana, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Punjab. …

Dr. Singh’s initiative for improved university system came in June when he announced at least one Central university for each State and a degree college for every district following a meeting on higher education with Union Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh, and Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram

Comparing the above list with our list of 19 states which do not yet have central universities following are some observations: (i) Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Tripura are not in the above list perhaps because universities for them was earlier announced, (ii) Goa is replaced by Maharastra and (iii) Madhya Pradesh is in the list, although it is not clear if this is in addition to the tribal university that is to be head quartered in Madhya Pradesh. Five thousand crores for 16 universities means 312.5 crores for each university.

Hindu has another article in its website with much of the same content except the following additional point.

In the 350 districts, where the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) was below the national average, Dr. Singh had asked the Centre to assist the States through the University Grants Commission (UGC) in setting up degree colleges to improve the enrolment ratio.

Pioneer reports on this teaming up to give training to selected children from several Tribal department run schools. Following are some excerpts.

The SC & ST Research and Training Institute (SCSTRTI) under the ST & SC Development Department has been organising a number of training programmes for the teachers as well as students of tribal schools to promote effective education among the tribals.

The institute, in collaboration with the Institute of Mathematics and Application (IMA) headed by eminent mathematician Professor Swadhin Pattnaik, identified 47 meritorious tribal students of Class VI from different Tribal Department-run schools and provided them an eight-day-long residential training course from July 17 to 24 to prepare them for the Mathematics Olympiad.

The training programme is considered to be unique and innovative, director of the institute, AB Ota, indicated that more and more such programmes would be held in future in the interest of tribal education.

The New Indian Express, April 25, 2007

Wednesday April 25 2007 14:26 IST
BHUBANESWAR: The State Government is planning to set up an ‘Education City’ near Naraj in Cuttack district.

The Higher Education Department has submitted a proposal to the Government to this effect. The proposed city will be an advanced centre of learning to train young minds in fundamental and application research.

With a number of mineral-based industries and thermal power plants coming up in the State, the State requires a large number of technical manpower. The City will be a hub of talent throwing up quality manpower in emerging subjects, said Higher Education Secretary Ashok Tripathy.

The objective is to attract private investment in higher education, he said and added the Government had already signed several memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with reputed organisations for establishment of private universities. At Mohali in Punjab, Canada is helping India set up a Knowledge City.

Naraj will be suitable for setting up the Education City because the Art of Living Foundation has selected a 200-acre site near the barrage for the proposed Sri Sri Ravishankar University. On one side of the river Kathajodi, the Government has allotted 40 acres of land for the proposed National Law University and another 150 acres for the second campus of Ravenshaw University.

On both sides of Naraj barrage, over 600 acres of Government land is available in different patches under Cuttack sadar, Banki and Barang tehsils. The Higher Education Department has recommended the Government to reserve the land for the Education City and issue necessary instructions to the Cuttack collector.

The site should be allotted to reputed organisations for setting up educational institutions of international standard offering specified high-end courses, Tripathy said. Centralised facilities like auditoria, sports and recreation centres may be set up on the campus to enhance its viability.

Apart from bringing synergy among educational institutions within the Education City, the hub’s spin-off will benefit other general and professional institutions. It will also further improve the economy of Cuttack city, the proposal reasoned.

Samaja, April 25, 2007 reports that a plan is being outlined to make education city in Naraj. This would include Shri Shri Ravi Sankar University, 2nd campus of Ravensha University, proposed Law University and new porposals. It will also boost the old glory of Katak city. As Naraj is located in between Katak and Bhubaneswar it would help to make a larger city combing these two cities of easter Orissa.

Details in PDF

IN THE FIELD OF HIGHER & TECHNICAL EDUCATION THE OVERALL INCREASE IN THE BUDGET IS OF THE ORDER OF 156 PER CENT - ARJUN SINGH

PROVISION OF RS. 502 CRORES FOR NATIONAL MISSION FOR EDUCATION
18:39 IST

Shri Arjun Singh, Union Minister for Human Resource Development has said ‘that access to education is of utmost importance for educational advancement of disadvantaged sections. The Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act has, therefore, been enacted and has been notified in January, 2007 in pursuance of the 93rd Amendment to the Constitution of India, to provide statutory reservations to SCs, STs and OBCs in Central Educational Institutions. Necessary resources, to the extent of Rs.2698 crores, have been proposed to be provided to the Central Educational Institutions in 2007-08, to augment their intake capacity in accordance with the Act, ensuring that reservations would not lead to any reduction in the seats as were available to unreserved categories before the coming into force of this Enactment.’

Besides this, a provision of Rs.502 crores has also been made for National Mission for Education through ICT and Distance Learning. A substantial portion of this money would be used to provide high speed interconnectivity between 84 Central Educational and Research Institutions and for developing the e-course content.

Shri Arjun Singh has further stated that in the field of higher & technical education the increase is of 156 per cent. Here is the full text of the opening remarks in the press briefing on Central Budget of HRD (2007-08) here today:-

“I am happy to be able to meet with all of you. I have been wanting to do so, and the Annual Plan 2007-08 provides us with an occasion.

Colleagues in the press have already written about the increases in our sectoral outlay in the Annual Plan. The education cess has been raised from the present 2% to 3% on all central taxes. As you know the 2% cess had been used to fund Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and Mid-day Meal Scheme and the additional 1% is to support funding of Secondary and Higher education. The overall increase in the Literacy, Primary and Secondary sectors is of the order of 22.4%over the previous year. In the field of Higher and Technical education, the increase is of 156%. We have not yet reached the target of 6% of GDP, but these are steps towards that goal.

I shall now briefly touch upon some of the highlights of the performance of the Ministry and some proposed initiatives in the Field of education.

With the vigorous implementation of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and the cooked Mid Day Meal (MDM Scheme), the number of out of school children has come down to less than 5% of the total population in the age group of 6 to 14 years i.e. from 4.4 crores in 2001-02 to 70 lakhs in 2006. FM has proposed a provision of Rs.10,671 crores for SSA in the Annual Plan of 2007-08.

The Mid Day Meal Scheme was revised in mid 2006. Under the revised scheme nutritional norms have been raised from the existing 300 calories and 8-12 grams of protein to minimum 450 calories and 12 grams of protein per child. To facilitate this, Central assistance towards cooking cost, has been raised from existing Rs. 1 to Rs.1.50 per child per school day with mandatory contribution of Rs.0.50 per child by States, making the overall cost norm of Rs.2 per child per day. In the case of North-Eastern States, the sharing pattern is 90:10 between the Centre and States. A total of Rs. 7,324 crores has been proposed to be provided for the scheme in 2007-08. This will include provision for Mid-day-meal at upper primary stage in 3427 Educationally Backward Blocks (EBBs) in the country

Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya Scheme, under which 1000 new schools have been approved during the current year, besides the 1180 approved earlier, provides residential education to girls predominantly belonging to the SC, ST, OBC and minority communities for whom 75% of the total seats are earmarked.

Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs), and Jawahar NavodayaVidyalayas (JNVs) have been recognized as setting the standards for the secondary education in the country. There are 919 functional KVs and 539 functional JNVs. 50 new KVs and 28 new JNVs have been approved in 2006-07.

The outlay for Secondary education in 2007-08 has been proposed to be raised by 191% over the current year, to Rs. 3,164 crores. This is to start the process of expanding access to secondary schools for the huge numbers who are successfully completing elementary school education. We will look both at expanding capacity in existing schools and at opening schools in unserved areas.

Access to education is of utmost importance for educational advancement of disadvantaged sections. The Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act has, therefore, been enacted and has been notified in January, 2007 in pursuance of the 93rd Amendment to the Constitution of India, to provide statutory reservations to SCs, STs and OBCs in Central Educational Institutions. Necessary resources, to the extent of Rs.2698 crores, have been proposed to be provided to the Central Educational Institutions in 2007-08, to augment their intake capacity in accordance with the Act, ensuring that reservations would not lead to any reduction in the seats as were available to unreserved categories before the coming into force of this Enactment. Besides this, a provision of Rs.502 crores has also been made for National Mission for Education through ICT and Distance Learning. A substantial portion of this money would be used to provide high speed interconnectivity between 84 Central Educational and Research Institutions and for developing the e-course content.

The University Grants Commission had been given a Plan Budget of Rs.1269 crore in 2006-07, itself a substantial increase of over 68% over 2005-06 allocations, enabling increased assistance to Universities in general and the Central Universities in the North East in particular. This has been proposed to be raised in 2007-08 to Rs. 2373 crores which includes increased allocation of Rs.1218 crores for the State Universities and Rs.576 crores for the implementations of capacity in areas in Central Universities by 54%. It is our earnest hope that this will enable UGC funded Central institutions to begin the process of increasing capacity.

Four new Central Universities have been created during 2006 through Acts of Parliament. Arunachal Pradesh (Rajiv Gandhi National University) and Tripura University have been converted from State Universities into Central Universities, while a new University of Sikkim has been created. The Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages has been converted into a Central University. Now all States in the North East have a Central University each. A total of six Central Universities have been created (including the Allahabad University and Manipur University which were created by converting the existing State Universities) since the UPA Govt. assumed office.

The seven IITs and six IIMs have served the country extremely well and have done us proud. It is now proposed to establish 3 new IITs in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan for which the Annual Plan 2007-08 has proposed to provide Rs. 80 crores. It has also been decided to establish a 7th IIM at Shillong in the North East for which a provision of Rs. 6 crores has been made. Two new Schools of Planning and Architecture are also proposed to be started at Vijaywada and Bhopal and a token provision of Rs. 1 crore in each case has been provided. In addition to the existing Indian Institute of Information Technology at Gwalior, Allahabad and Jabalpur under the Government of India, a new IIIT (Design and Manufacturing) has been approved to be established at Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu. Proposals have been submitted to the Planning Commission for starting 20 new IIITs so as to cover each major State. Planning Commission has suggested that these could be considered under the Public-Private Participation mode.

Erstwhile Regional Engineering Colleges/ Government Engineering Colleges have been converted into National Institutes of Technology (NITs) with changes in their governance structure. There are 20 NITs at present. In order to bring all of them under an umbrella legislation, the NIT Bill had been introduced in Parliament. We have since then received the Report of the Parliament Standing Committee and Cabinet approval has been obtained for introducing the official amendments based on the Standing Committee Report. We have increased the Annual Plan outlay for NITs to Rs. 893 crores, to also cover the proposed increase in capacity.

There is an urgent need to revamp polytechnic education in the country. The annual intake in polytechnics is approximately 50% of the intake in the degree level engineering institutions, though this ratio should be many more times the other way round. We have provided Rs. 50 crores for new polytechnics and for upgradation of polytechnics in specially identified districts, and Rs. 20 crore for the community polytechnics in the Annual Plan.

In order to build scientific research institutions of the highest standards in which teaching and research at the under-graduate and post-graduate levels will be undertaken in an integrated manner, two Indian Institutes of Scientific Education and Research (IISERs) have already started functioning at Kolkata and Pune. A third IISER is being set up at Mohali (Punjab) and two more have been proposed at Bhopal and Thiruvanathapuram. We have provided Rs. 125 crores for the IISERs in the Annual Plan. It is hoped that over a period of time, IISERs will attain the eminence of IISc, Bangalore and put India in the forefront of scientific research in the world. We have also proposed to increase the outlay to IISc. to Rs.196 crores both to enable the institution to increase its capacity for implementing OBC reservations and to commemorate the centenary of that fine institution.”

Lok Sabha

Minister of State in the Ministry of Urban Development Shri Ajay Maken has said that the Broad-based Committee of National School of Drama has recommended opening of Regional Schools of Drama in five regions of the country. In a written reply in the Lok Sabha today he said, the five locations identified by the Broad-based Committee are Bangalore, Maharashtra/Goa, Kolkata, North-East and Jammu & Kashmir. Regarding the time by which these are likely to be opened the Minister said, the proposal is under consideration of the Government.