BJP manifesto promises increasing IIT, IIM, AIIMS’ seats by 50%
1 min read . Updated: 08 Apr 2019, 03:53 PM IST
Premium- The manifesto also promises to take the number of institutions of eminence to 50 from the current plan of 20
- The central institutions seats are going up by 25% due to implementation of the economic weaker section quota over the next couple of years
New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party manifesto Monday promised to increase intake capacity of central engineering, management, science and law institutions by 50% over the next five years if voted to power but remains silent on the impending new education policy.
Central institutions encompass Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Indian Institute of Management (IIMs), All Indian Institutions of Medical Science (AIIMS), national law universities, Indian Institute of Science Technology and Research (IISER) among others.
Besides, the manifesto also promises to take the number of institutions of eminence to 50 from the current plan of 20. “We will take all necessary steps to increase the number of seats in Central Law, Engineering, Science and Management institutions by at least 50% in the next five years. In the past five years, our emphasis has been on quality higher educational institutions and Institutions of Eminence have been a step in that direction. We will take it forward …and create 50 such institutions by 2024," the saffron party’s manifesto said.
To be sure, the central institutions seats are going up by 25% due to implementation of the economic weaker section quota over the next couple of years. The manifesto is not clear whether this 50% hike is above the EWS quota limit or including the growth in seats due to EWS quota.
The manifesto is silent on the new education policy, a big announcement in 2014 but still to be ready. It also does not talk about what’s their stand on scraping the University Grants Commission (UGC). However, it talks about creating enabling environment for institutions.
“We will relook the role of existing regulatory institutions’ and make necessary changes in the legislation to ensure a regulatory overhaul. We will formulate new regulatory mechanism to provide autonomy to quality institutions. It will work towards promoting excellence and quality learning in higher education while providing academic and functional autonomy to institutions," the manifesto said.
