Parliament passes National Institute of Design Bill

NEW DELHI: The National Institute of Design will now be able to award degrees to students with Parliament today unanimously passing a bill in this regard.

The National Institute of Design Bill, 2014, is the first legislation to be passed by Parliament after the Narendra Modi government came to power.

Passed by the Rajya Sabha on Monday, it was vetted by the Lok Sabha today.

The institute, which has a branch in Gandhinagar and also a satellite centre in Bangalore, will now be an 'institute of national importance' and award degree to its students.

The passage of the legislation will also prove to be beneficial for students who wish to pursue post graduation and help the institute promote quality and excellence in design education.

Transforming NID into a corporate body with the legal status of an institute is the other objective of the bill.

Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who piloted the legislation, said with the passage of the bill NID will get status of an institute of national excellence.

The institute will start awarding degrees, post graduate degrees, MPhil and PhD programmes and also enjoy the autonomy to increase the seat strength, she said.

The legislation was introduced in Rajya Sabha in March 2013 by the then Commerce Minister Anand Sharma and then referred to a Parliamentary Panel.

The passage of the bill will help the institute to act as a nucleus for interaction between academia and industry by encouraging exchange of designers and other technical staff and undertake sponsored and funded research as well as consultancy projects.

The bill was passed after a brief debate. Gaurav Gogoi of Congress said the credit for the bill should go to the UPA government.

TMC leader Saugata Roy and CPI(M) member Md Salim demanded setting up of a campus in West Bengal.