National Institutes of Technology to open in Sikkim

Gangtok,Sep17:     Sikkim is among nine States sanctioned the National Institutes of Technology (NIT) by the Union Cabinet on Thursday in addition to 20 such existing institutes. Six of these institutes are to come up in the North East.
The NITs are fully centrally funded and have the status of deemed universities.
Admissions in the new NITs, which will be fully centrally funded, will start from the next academic session of 2010-11 and classes will start either in campuses taken on lease or temporarily in mentor NITs. The Goa institute will temporarily hold classes in either Surat or Nagpur unless the Goa Government ensures a campus by June.
The Cabinet sanctioned Rs 50 crore to each one to kick off the process of setting them up by setting up the board of governors, appoint directors and register societies for running them.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni, who briefed reporters on the Cabinet decision, said construction of campuses will be also initiated, subject to the concerned State giving land free of cost. The process of setting up these institutes will be completed in five years.
Half of the seats in the NITs will be reserved for students from the concerned States, though the Goa institute will also cater to the Union Territories of Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Lakshadweep.
Other States getting the new NITs are Sikkim, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Pudducherry (also cater to Andaman and Nicobar Islands), Delhi (cater to Chandigarh also) and Uttarakhand. The last two will get the Central aid of Rs 300 crore each while the rest Rs 250 crore each.
The new NITs, covered under the National Institutes of Technology Act, 2007 to make them institutions of national importance, will impart quality education to produce engineers, scientists and college teachers on the subjects, besides engaging in research and development.
The new institutes will give advantage to students of the concerned states as they will have 50 per cent quota for admission at Under Graduate level, remaining filled on all-India basis.