LS demands to bring in provision in the IIIT Bill to stop Brain drain

The Lok Sabha on Tuesday wanted the government to bring in a provision in the draft IIIT Bill to prevent brain drain from India.

During a discussion on the Bill, many members wanted students of the Indian Institutes of Information Technology from taking up any job abroad for at least five years.

“These institutions (IIITs) should be strengthened on the lines of the IITs to help create world class institutes of global standards.They should be brought under one umbrella Act and more such institutes should be set up in other states so that they become institutes of human development,” BJP MP Jagdambika Pal said, initiating the discussion.

BJP member S S Ahluwalia suggested that the government should give a call to all the Indian technocrats and academicians working abroad to come back to India and contribute to the nation’s development.

Cutting across party lines, most of the members who participated in the discussion supported the Bill, which was introduced by the human resource development minister during the last session of Parliament, on August 12.

The passage of the bill by Parliament will give statutory status to four IIITs, functioning in Allahabad, Gwalior, Jabalpur and Kancheepuram.

Meanwhile, the government withdrew from Rajya Sabha a UPA era bill which aimed at creating an overarching body in higher education by subsuming existing regulatory bodies such as University Grants Commission and the All India Council for Technical Education. The decision for the withdrawal of Higher Education and Research Bill, 2011, was taken by the Union Cabinet recently.