India may get final approval for US academics teaching during Barack Obama's visit

NEW DELHI: International academicians could be paid as high as $12,000 for a 20-day teaching session in institutes here under a government sponsored-programme to help students across the streams get exposure to the best of faculties from abroad.

They would teach in centrally-funded educational bodies like IITs and central universities and in institutes with 'A' grade, the details of which are being finalised before US President Barack Obama's visit to India.

US had agreed to India's proposal to invite and host up to 1,000 American academics every year to teach in India under the Global Initiative For Academic Networks (GIAN) initiative during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to US last year.

"Emphasis is being laid on offering a good package so as to attract the best faculties," said an official in the HRD Ministry, adding, "$8000 is being proposed for 15 days session and $12000 for 20 days."

Names of eminent scholars and academicians would be sent to the respective institutes for evaluation by a peer group. It will then go to different sectional committees according to the streams comprising professors and other experts.

The final approval will be given by the streams, officials said.

Last Wednesday, HRD Minister Smriti Irani had tweeted that Manjul Bhargava, a professor of Mathematics in an US university and widely known for his contribution to the number theory, would be a part of this global initiative.

Last year, Bhargava became the first Indian-origin mathematician to win the coveted Fields Medal, known as the "Nobel Prize of mathematics." He had met Irani recently.

The ministry aims to finalise the details before Obama arrives here on January 25 so that India can take the proposal ahead.

"The President (Obama) welcomed India's proposal to establish GIAN under which India would invite and host up to 1,000 American academics each year to teach in centrally- recognised Indian universities, at their convenience", the India-US joint statement said after the Obama-Modi meeting in Washington.