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Quota Bill will not face opposition: Arjun

Special Correspondent

CHENNAI: The Centre did not anticipate any opposition in the Parliament to the Bill implementing staggered reservation quotas for OBCs, Union Minister for Human Resources Development Arjun Singh said on Sunday.

There had been no dissent among UPA allies in the coordination meet held on May 23.

"All the allies had concurred [with the decision to implement the staggered quotas] and based on that, a decision was taken. The matter is now before the Parliamentary Standing Committee and its decision is binding. We do not expect any of our allies to oppose the Bill," he told reporters in response to a question about PMK leader S. Ramadoss' statement on Saturday that during the UPA meet, Union Ministers from Tamil Nadu had insisted that the OBC quota be implemented in a single phase and not in a staggered mode.

People's aspirations

Earlier, declaring open new hostel blocks at the IIT-Madras and releasing educational material prepared under the National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL), Mr. Singh said the IITs should ensure that technology related to people's aspirations and local needs and covered both manufacturing and service sectors. The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) had funded the NPTEL to the tune of Rs. 20.5 crore in the first phase, to be completed by December.

The NPTEL material was module-based and was a collaborative effort between the IITs and the Indian Institute of Science, M.S. Ananth, Director, IIT-M, said. A virtual IIT was in the offing to cater to the needs of thousands of engineering students every year, he added.

The MHRD was planning to launch a one-stop educational portal very soon for anytime, anywhere access to educational systems, Sudeep Banerjee, Secretary, MHRD, said.

NPTEL will deliver digital content for 240 engineering courses in civil engineering, computer science and engineering, electrical engineering, electronics and communication engineering and mechanical engineering, along with core science and management courses.

A.E. Muthunayagam, Chairman, Board of Governors, IIT-Madras, was also present.

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