The Centre's dedicated institutes to promote research and innovation - Indian Institutes of Science and Education Research (IISERs) - have complained they do not get enough funds for research.
The institutes, established solely for the purpose of promoting research on the lines of Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore, in their recent meeting with the President, who is the Visitor of these institutes, said they do not get enough funds for research.
"IISERs have sought greater funding from the government since they were established for the purpose of research on the lines of IISc," said an official in the ministry.
They also raised the issue of not being able to attract good faculty because of lack of schooling for children and employment avenues for their spouses.
IISERs also demanded a separate act to govern them. Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and National Institutes of Technology (NITs), under the Ministry of Human Resource Development, have their own acts that define their functioning like hiring of faculty, fee structure, course model and other crucial things. IISERs however, do not have an act of their own. The demand to have their own act was put up by IISERs in the Visitor's meeting where 23 IITs, 7 IISERs and IISc Bangalore were present.
Discussions also included increasing faculty members and improving global ranking of these institutions.
IISERs, which are barely 10-year-old institutions, work mostly in the field of research. There are seven IISERs in the country. In addition to the five older IISERs at Pune (Maharashtra), Kolkata (West Bengal), Mohali (Punjab), Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh), and Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala), the government has established two new IISERs at Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh) and Berhampur (Odisha) in 2015 and 2016, respectively.
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- There are seven IISERs in the country. In addition to five older ones at Pune, Kolkata, Mohali, Bhopal and Thiruvananthapuram, two new IISERs are at Tirupati and Berhampur
