IITs, IISc get additional grant

The Cabinet also decided to set up a high level committee to revise the Block Grant scheme for the IITs and the IISc in a 8220;rational manner,8221; well ahead of scheduled revision after 2010-11.

The committee will be asked to submit its recommendations within four months, sources said. Once the Government accepts it, it would terminate the existing grant scheme. The panel will look into issues related to norms for revenue generation, assessment of accumulated deficits, ways for eliminating it and recommend a formula to allocate annual grants, which should be fixed for the remaining four years of the Eleventh Plan.

The revision was necessitated by the fact that the allocation amount has been stagnant since 2002-03 despite 29 per cent increase in student intake during the subsequent five year period. The situation had become more acute in the wake of Government8217;s directive last year to increase the seats for post-graduation and research by 50 per cent to compensate for the proposed OBC reservation in higher education.