HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar is in talks with the ministries of home and external affairs to make the process of visa easier for the foreign faculty members at Indian Institutes of Technology - IITs. The government has been asking various renowned institutions of the country to invite foreign members to their respective campuses so that there is an improvement in the world rankings and the Indian students could get a chance to learn as per international standards.
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A meeting regarding the same agenda took place between IIT directors and the President regarding relaxing the norms related to faculty at the IITs. According to the officials, red tape is making the visa process a very time-consuming process due to which the institutions are unable to get more foreign faculty on the campuses. As per the government, inviting foreign faculty to the prestigious institutes will improve their international rankings.
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HRD Minister's intervention into the matter is expected to boost the schemes of central government such as VAJRA and GIAN. These schemes allow NRIs to work in India as faculty members in the government-funded institutes for the time frame of 3 months. Javadekar is focused on resolving the issue as soon as possible so that the faculty can join the campus within time. However, only faculty members of Indian origin who come under the category of OCI are permitted to teach in the institution. Whereas the home ministry is against OCI members seeking government employment in India.