29 posts of chairman in IIT and NIT vacant, says Dharmendra Pradhan

New Delhi: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday, in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, said that at present eight posts of Chairman are vacant in IITs and 21 in NITs. Apart from this, five posts each of Directors in IITs and NITs were vacant, the minister informed.

Inquiring about the vacancies in IITs and NITs, Lok Sabha MPs Vijay Baghel and Sumedhanand Saraswati asked the Union Minister whether any time limit had been fixed for filling these vacancies. "If there is a time limit fixed, the details must be provided, and if the time frame is not set, it should tell the reasons for it."

The Union Education Minister in his reply said the nomination and selection of Chairperson and other posts in these educational institutions is a continuous process.

MPs M. Selvaraj and P.R. Natarajan asked on the floor of the House whether it is true that the government is in the process of implementing the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 with a three-language formula in educational institutions across the country.

Pradhan replied saying that the NEP 2020 provision states that, "the three-language formula will continue to be implemented keeping in mind the constitutional provisions, the aspirations and needs of the people, regions and the union. Promotion of multilingualism along with national integration has been promoted. However, there will be more flexibility in the three language formula and no language will be imposed on any state across the country."

The Union Education Minister said three languages to be learned by the children would be the choice of the states, regions and the students themselves, of which at least two of the three languages must be from India. Specifically, students studying and wish to switch one or more of the three languages may do so in sixth or seventh grade, as long as they are familiar with three languages (including one of India's languages at the literary level) and are able to demonstrate basic proficiency in them.

Apart from this there is a provision that there will be a major effort on the part of the Central and state government to invest in large number of language teachers for regional languages and especially for all the regional languages mentioned in the 8th Schedule, he added.

According to the Union Ministry of Education as per the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution, states, especially from different regions of India, have bilateral agreement to recruit teachers from one another in large numbers, satisfy the three-language formula in their respective states, and encourage the study of Indian languages across the country. There will be extensive use of technology to teach and learn different languages and to popularize language learning.