The recommendations of the Anil Kakodkar Committee on roadmap for autonomy and future of IITs (Indian Institute of Technology) will soon be considered by the Union Government.

Speaking at the 57{+t}{+h} annual convocation and launching of diamond jubilee of IIT-Kharagpur here on Monday, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, said, “The Kakodkar Committee recommendations will soon be considered by the Council of the IITs and then by the Union Government.”

The recommendations touch upon several key aspects like the role of IITs as research institutions, financial autonomy and governance, role of faculty and the need for innovation and entrepreneurship.

Highlighting the key findings of the Committee, the Prime Minister said that the IITs churn out limited number of PhDs annually when compared to similar technology institutions in the US and China.

“The Committee suggests that the IITs take on the challenge of creating an advanced research based innovation eco-system with the involvement of industry and national technology related programmes,” he said.

A strong nurturing environment was key to attract top class faculty and researchers. “The key words should be excellence, flexibility, high quality infrastructure and a system of strong incentives,” he pointed out.

Growth of economy

The Prime Minister opined that finding technical and scientific solutions was essential to address the issues of rapid urbanisation, climate change or energy security.

The country needs to develop soft skills to multiply output and productivity.

Related Topics