New Delhi: The government has been asked by the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) to allow them to employ foreign nationals as permanent faculty.

If the proposal by the IITs is accepted by the government, it would be of immense benefit to students as it would provide them with exposure to globally distinguished professors in an unprecedented manner.

The Institutes would be discussing the proposal with Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry on September 10 at a meeting between the IIT Council as well as HRD Minister Kapil Sibal.

The IITs had earlier in 2007 been granted the permission to hire foreign nationals as faculty members but only on a contractual basis for a maximum period of 5 years.

Most IITS are currently facing a huge faculty crunch, ranging between 15% and 40%, and are always on the lookout for well-qualified teachers.

Most critics have argued incessantly that if foreign nationals are allowed to remain as permanent faculty members at IITs, they would have to be paid higher than their Indian counterparts. This point has been refuted by the IITs in their proposal to the government, saying that they would be able to hire foreign teachers without having to pay them more than Indian faculty members.