The decision was taken on Tuesday at a meeting of the IIT council in Mumbai headed by Human Resource Development minister Smriti Irani.
Irani confirmed the decision by tweeting: “Happy to report that IIT Council has decided to waive off fees for our physically challenged students.”
Meanwhile, a proposal to raise the tuition fee in the prestigious IITs was deferred with the government deciding the set up a committee to examine the matter as well as ways to enhance student loans and increase scholarships for needy students.
The proposal was discussed at the IIT council meeting in Mumbai where a decision was taken to admit foreign students with preference being given to students from SAARC and African countries.
The issue of raising the tuition fee was taken up in the light of a proposed new funding mechanism where the running expenses for running the IITs could be recovered from the students, said sources.
The decision if implementation could raise the fee appreciably from Rs 90,000 at present to close to Rs 2.5 lakh.
IIT Council is the apex policy making body of the IITs and is chaired by HRD Minister Smriti Irani.
Sources said the Minister was not inclined on taking any decisions without further examination.
[“Source- zeenews”]
Some of India’s leading academic institutions like IITs and IIMs will have foreign faculty members this year under the national GIAN (Global Initiative of Academic Networks) programme.
Taking a big leap towards international collaborations, Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Gujarat National Law University and Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) are among a category of some 300-odd institutions in the country that are free to accept foreign donations without registration under Foreign Contributions Regulation Act (FCRA).