New Delhi, Dec 19 : Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh today said that Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) has contributed significantly to India''s destiny to become a knowledge power.

Inaugurating the 6th annual PAN IIT Global Conference here, Dr. Singh said the UPA government is committed to provide access to quality education to the poor and the disadvantaged.

"Our Government has implemented a series of scholarship schemes for the under-privileged sections of the society, which would help us make the growth in educational opportunities inclusive," he added

"The government has also initiated a second wave of institution building and excellence. Apart from the 8 new IITs, we are in the process of setting up 30 new Central Universities, 7 new IIMs, 10 new National Institutes of Technology, 20 new IIITs, 5 new Indian Institutes of Science Education and 2 new Schools of Planning and Architecture, 373 new Colleges in districts with low enrolment in college education and 1000 new Polytechnics," he said.

Dr. Singh further said that the IIT community is acknowledged as a community that has contributed very significantly to the knowledge economy and knowledge society, globally and in India.

"The IIT impact study findings being released today validate this assessment. However, while such a study may capture the success of individual IIT''ans in terms of achievements already made, I believe the bigger opportunity today is that such a large community is available for generating ideas that may help translate the emerging wonder of ''India at 60'' into the embodied success of ''India at 75''," he added

"We seek the help of IIT fraternity to become partners in the process of transformation of India into a knowledge society," he said. (ANI)