Naveen writes to MHRD to start classes in IIT Orissa in 2008-09
May 27th, 2008
Following is an excerpt from http://howrah.org/india_news/13592.html.
In the meantime, Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik too has written to the Centre requesting that the IIT which is to come up in his state should begin functioning from the 2008-09 academic session itself.
Following are more excerpts from that article about new IIT locations across India.
… the Union ministry of human resources development has written to the state government suggesting three cities. And none among the three is the location favoured by the Rajasthan government, Kota. Instead, the ministry has suggested that the IIT be located in either Jaipur, Jodhpur or Udaipur. The logic behind the ministry’s suggestion, said sources, is that it wants the IIT located in a city which has an airport or is at least in close proximity to an airport. While all the three cities suggested by the HRD ministry have an airport, Kota doesn’t have one. The closest airport is in Jaipur, some 240 km away.
… both the other two new IITs — in Bihar and Andhra Pradesh — fulfil this HRD ministry criteria. The one in Andhra Pradesh will be located in Isnapur near Sanga Reddy in Medak district and won’t be too far away from the twin-cities of Hyderabad-Secunderabad. … the new IIT which will come up in Bihar is located some 40 kilometres away from state capital Patna, which has an airport. These three IITs will begin admissions from the 2008-09 academic session itself, though they will be functioning from the already-established IITs.
Entry Filed under: IIT, oDishA,IITs, IISc, IISERs, NISER, IIMs
4 Writeup
1. Viswas | May 27th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
In Rajasthan there are at least 3 cities with Airports, but still the state government is for IIT at Kota, and is prepared to fight with the center for this as they know the value of regional prosperity in ensuring the growth of the state. Infact, in the past also they located the AIIMS in Jodhpur and not in the capital like us.
In Orissa where there is only one airport in the capital and most of the districts don’t have even proper railway connectivity , if somebody says that you have to establish institutes near airports it would mean that no institute now or in the future will be established in other areas apart from the capital. So, the possible way out is either to build airports in other major cities of the state which will take a long time and second to find locations which are not too far away from the airport.
Development in India can’t be only for the babus who can’t think beyound flights and this section would never be able to digest the fact that they will be travelling even for 2-3 hours from the airport. after all for whom we are building the IITs? For these so called babus (white elephants) or for the students of the country to prepare them as future leaders in sc and tech. From the process in Orissa it seems as if the IIT is of the babus (politicians and bureaucrats) for the babus and by the babus.
2. R. K. Ghosh | May 28th, 2008 at 10:55 am
It looks like that new IITs (at least a majority of them) will start from coming academic year. Growth can never be inclusive unless planning is done carefully. Gujrat IIT is being located at a place in Gandhinagar which is visible from Gurat Secretariat and just about 20 minutes drive from the Airport. If my information is correct, then I believe Gandhinagar IIT will be the best among those newly planned IITs. The critical input to success of any good institution is not anything but its faculty and students. One must realize that teachers also need a level of comfort and come out of the mindset that highly trained teachers can survive every where or any where. Even for carrying out good research three links: communication, electricity and transport are vital. So, if people want inclusive growth, then state must plan out its infrastructure accordingly. There is already a web site in Orissa links for infrastructure creation. We should ask why there is so much talk about infrastructure. Unless the proposed site is well connected, IIT Orissa can not succeed. NISER is already having problem of attracting good faculty though it is located in Bhubaneswar. So, I think, if Orissa decide to locate IIT any where outside Bhubaneswar the it will beginning of the end of IIT Orissa.
3. Viswas | May 29th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Air port is not something which other towns of Orissa will not get till infinity. Till last few years Kanpur had no regular flight connectivity, but the IIT there did quite well. Kharagpur at a distance of 140 kms from Airport stood first till 2004 as the best IIT in India. Who says have the IIT in Orissa near Malkanagiri. But, having this close to Bhubaneswar but not in Bhubaneswar is what people are trying to convey. And, you yourself have mentioned that NISER, although being in Bhubaneswar is not able to attract the best talents. That means it is not the airport which people think is the ultimate to judge an IIT. You can’t bring bay of bengal closer to a city but airport is not something which will remain the monopoly of Bhubaneswar for all the time to come.
4. R. K. Ghosh | May 31st, 2008 at 5:42 pm
I think the example of IITK is misplaced. I know about IITK pretty well to say that. I will advise not to go by ranking published in Outlook or India Today, though I myself feel flattered by this ranking. You are right that Kanpur does not have air connectivity and located 70 km away from Amausi Airport. But it takes just under 2 hours to reach air port. Besides when IIT Kanpur came up other places in India including Bombay or Delhi had just small functional air ports and Kanpur had an military airport. Some civilian flights operated from Kanpur for sometime. IITK’s airstrip also was used. However, air travel was not in reach of many. Train was the only means of travel for common people, and most train were only hauled by coal locomotives. Please remember we are talking about the time of 1960s. Can you really compare that with the present time? Yes, I did talk about NISER. What I wanted to convey is that NISER is already having problem just think of the scenario if NISER were located elsewhere in Orissa. If you are talking of incubating IIT Orissa over a period of 40 years or more then perhaps I will agree with you that airport may come up in places other than Bhubaneswar, but then Bhubaneswar will perhaps become an International airport.