The Lok Sabha today passed the National Institutes of Technology, Science Education and Research (Amendment)Bill, 2016. It seeks to establish the National Institute of Technology, Andhra Pradesh as an institute of national importance under the National Institutes of Technology, Science Education and Research (NITSER) Act, 2007. <br/><br/>For the current year, an amount of 40 crore rupees have been allocated for establishment of the Institute. Replying to a debate on the bill, Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar said, the government is focusing on quality and affordability of education, as well as promoting innovation and research. He said, government will create a Higher Education Fund of twenty thousand crore rupees for promoting innovation and improving physical infrastructure in IITs and NITs. He said, 40 per cent of the fund will be spent on research work. <br/><br/>The Minister said, budgetary allocation for NITs in the current financial year is 23 per cent higher than the allocation made in 2013-14. He said, to improve the quality of education, faculty posts in the institutions will be filled up and good teachers will be felicitated. <br/><br/>Responding to the concerns of the members, the Minister said, in IITs and NITs there is a provision of fee waiver for students belonging to SCs, STs and OBCs. He also announced setting up of National Institute of Technology for Humanities named after Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan. He said the institute to be set up in Madhya Pradesh will become functional from 2017-18 academic session.<br/><br/>Participating in the debate, Mr Shashi Tharoor of Congress expressed concern over the shortage of teachers in these institutes. He said, there is a need to focus on quality of higher education and enhancing the budgetary support. Mr Hari Babu Kambhampati of BJP said, every institute of national importance should have skill development and innovation faculty. He also urged the government to expedite the work of setting up of Central and Tribal Universities in the State.