New Delhi, June 27 :    New Delhi, June 27:  Regional Engineering Colleges (RECs) will now become National Institutes of Technology (NIT). In a major policy decision, the Centre today announced its decision to upgrade 17 RECs on the lines of the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) to meet the increasing demand for skilled manpower in the fields of science and technology and better technical education. 'There is no doubt that the demand for quality technical education has increased manifold during the past few years. The conversion of these RECs into NITs with the status of deemed universities will positively impact the quality of technical education,' said human resources development minister Murli Manohar Joshi at a press conference. Ten RECs will be upgraded in the first phase of transition - the remaining seven will be restructured later. The first list does not include the Durgapur Regional College in Bengal because the authorities have not yet sent their letter of consent to the Centre. The first list includes the RECs in Allahabad, Bhopal, Kozhikode, Jaipur, Hamirpur, Kurukshetra, Nagpur, Rourkela, Surathkal and Silchar. Joshi claimed the restructuring will widen the base of quality students. At present, the intake of students in the RECs stands at 8,500 and the restructuring, according to the minister, will increase the number by another 7,000. In keeping with the present policy, students belonging to the states will continue to have 50 per cent reservation while another 50 per cent will be admitted from outside. There will be one joint entrance examination for all NITs. Though there is a question mark on how much this restructuring will help improve the quality of education, Joshi maintained there will be a change from the present culture that will boost quality. 'At present, the RECs are totally controlled by the states. The culture will change once they know they have autonomy and control over the syllabus and functioning of the institutes,' said the minister. The restructured institutes will be governed by a board of professionals like academics, scientists and technical experts as in the IITs. The board chairperson, according to Joshi, will be an eminent educationist, technologist or industrialist. The Centre will bear all expenses. Now, the states pitch in 50 per cent of the expenses while the rest comes from the Centre. 'We will see (to it) that the IITs take due interest in the NITs. They will also actively interact with industries through joint research, by making the curriculum more relevant and (introducing) short-term courses for working engineers,' said Joshi. The NITs, in turn, will become the monitoring agencies for technical institutions. The IITs will preserve their 'brand' name, but the NITs - at least so hopes the government - will go a long way in expanding the pool of scientific and technological manpower. Statistics show that in India, scientists and technicians account for only 3.5 per cent per 1,000 persons while the percentage of people skilled in research and development is a mere 0.3 per cent.