India signed agreement with World Bank to improve Technical Education Quality Improvement

New Delhi : The Human Resource Development Ministry has signed MoU for the third phase of Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP-III) with 18 States and a Union Territory for improving the overall standard and quality of technical institutes.

To be implemented as a ‘central scheme’ from April 2017 with the assistance of $201.50 million through financing agreement with the World Bank to improve the quality of technical education in the country. “Financing agreement for credit of $201.50 million for the ‘Third Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP III)’ was signed with the World Bank here on Tuesday,” the Finance Ministry said in a statement.

The project has total outlay including World Bank funding will result to Rs 2660 crore. It will be coterminous with the 14th Finance Commission (2019-20). An estimated 200 Government and Government-aided engineering institutes and Affiliating Technical Universities (ATUs), including Centrally Funded Technical Institutions (CFTIs), will benefit from the project. Autonomous institutes will be entitled to funds of up to Rs 15 crore, non-autonomous institutes up to Rs 10 crore, ATUs up to Rs 20 crore and mentor institutions up to Rs 7 crore.

Speaking on the occasion, HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said the programme was vital for the much-needed technical up-gradation in educational institutes. “Innovation and research can happen only when physical infrastructure and trained manpower is available,” he said.

The MoU was signed with seven low-income states of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh; three hill states of Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand; and eight north-eastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.

The TEQIP commenced in 2003 with World Bank assistance as a long-term programme to be implemented in three phases. The first phase ended in March 2009 whereas the second phase commenced in August 2010 and is scheduled to conclude in March 2017.

“The project has been designed as a disbursement-linked one, that is, the World Bank loan will be disbursed on achievement of specific outcomes,” it added.

Note: News shared for public awareness with reference from the information provided at online news portals.