By Shivani Singh/TNN
(appears on the same day or the next day or day before as
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1042282.cms)

New Delhi: If Arjun Singh doesn’t decide to give boot to the previous 
NDA government’s proposal to set up new IITs, the fate of some of 
these engineering institutes may just change.
The S K Joshi committee, set up soon after former prime minister 
Atal Bihari Vajpayee promised to start five new IITs from the ramparts 
of Red Fort on August 15, 2003, has submitted its report.
The committee has shortlisted seven technical institutes that can be 
upgraded to IITs. These are: Bengal Engineering College (Howrah), 
Jadavpur University’s engineering and technical department, 
Benaras Hindu University’s Institute of Technology, and Zakir 
Hussain College of Engineering, Aligarh, Andhra University College of 
Engineering and Osmania College of Engineering combined with Osmania 
University College of Technology and Cochin University of Science and 
Technology.
In the one and a half years since Vajapayee made the promise, the 
ministry has been flooded with queries from the state governments and 
questions in Parliament on which institutes would be the lucky ones.
The NDA government would have probably jumped at the recommendations and 
may have initiated action soon but the new dispensation is not too sure. 
Although the ministry is yet to discuss the report’s recommendations, 
the question whether more IITs are needed has already triggered a debate. 
Wouldn’t half a dozen more IITs dilute the brand equity of the existing 
ones? Besides the big five, two new IITs were set up in Guwahati and 
Roorkee by the NDA government. Why can’t we upgrade some better 
performing state engineering colleges into National Institutes of Technology 
(NITs) and leave the IITs alone? The ministry officials are posing serious 
questions.
“The IIT system of selection does not give any advantage to state students. 
So there is no need to to have an IIT in every other state. Setting up an 
IIT goes beyond a building and a faculty. It requires support from the 
industry. We have to see these factors before deciding,’’ said an 
official.
The S K Joshi committee has, however, looked at academic standing and 
infrastructure to shortlist the institutes. Parameters like faculty, 
research papers published in a year, courses, student strength and 
physical infrastructure have been taken into account.
But the committee did not consider the 17 regional engineering colleges that 
were upgraded to NITs during Murli Manohar Joshi’s stint as HRD minister 
with the logic that they already had the same governance structure and 
deemed university status as IITs. But this again has triggered another 
debate. Why not consider NITs for upgradation to IITs as they are better 
than the shortlisted colleges?