Soon, one-year MTech from IITs

Working professionals will now be able to pursue M.Tech from Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) that will be compressed into a year rather than two.

The IIT council, the highest decision making body of the IITs, which is chaired by the Union human resource development minister, cleared the proposal in its meeting on April 27, under which the institutions can offer a one-year executive M.Tech course, especially for working professionals to ensure more IIT students opt for research work.

They currently offer a twoyear programme and the institutions pays ₹12,400 per month as fellowship for MTech students and charge approximately ₹20,000 per annum as fee.

For the executive MTech programme, IITs have proposed charging a fee according to the market rates which will also help them increase their revenue. The Board of Governors (BoGs) of each IIT will decide on the fees.

A number of IIMs and other management schools already offer a similar programme for working professionals.

Fees for M.Tech at IITs are currently lower than those of these private institutions.

A number of IITs had also reported facing difficulty in retaining their MTech students as a number of them were quitting the course after landing jobs in public sector undertakings.

An M.Tech programme sponsored by industry will also be encouraged by IITs and it has been decided that each BoG can decide the fee in case of sponsored candidates also.

“The M Tech programme is an essential step towards good research work. We want more students to complete their Masters.

Generally students get placed after completing their graduation and this programme can cater to such students,” said a source.

There are 23 IITs in the country with a total count of 72,000 students. Around 14,000 MTech students are enrolled in the institutes.

The M Tech programme is an essential step towards good research work. We want more students to complete their masters. A SOURCE SPEAKING ABOUT THE DECISION