Five PIO Universities to Come Up in Indian Cities
In order to strengthen its connectivity with the Indian diaspora, Government of India 
has come up with the proposal to set up five PIO (Person of Indian Origin) universities in different Indian cities. The declaration was made at the recently concluded mini Pravasi Bharatiya Divas at Toronto. The good news is that the IT city Bangalore is also among one of these cities.
PIO universities will be set up under the Innovation Universities Bill, which brought in the Parliament. The main focus of PIO universities will only be on innovation. The best part of this new proposal is that the students need not be worried about passing exams or marks.
According to Didar Singh, Secretary in the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, ‘These universities will be set up in public-private partnership and 50 per cent seats will be set aside for students from the Indian diaspora'. He also informed that the university is already running some programmes - like Know India Programme and Study India Programme for the diaspora youth and know more about India.
The official said the PIO universities will help diaspora youth, to know about their roots and gain excellence both in terms of education and professionalism.
Source: Prachi Srivastava (Shiksha Team)
Date: 13th June, 2011
