As many as 11 companies, half of them from IT sector, visited the varsity over the past six months and picked up a number of students.
A considerable number of postgraduates were also chosen by multinationals from diverse sectors through off campus placement exercises. The department of Finance and Control achieved a record of sorts by scoring 100 percent result on this front. The department has 30 seats.
This is in sharp contrast to a period not so long back when departments scored a nought. Even students of humanities have secured employment. They include students from Sociology, Rural Development and Anthropology departments. CAPART, for instance, an autonomous body engaged in sustainable development of rural areas, recruited six students from these departments. A matching number was also recruited by Pradan, another leading New Delhi-based NGO.
And it has promised to visit the varsity in September to hold its second phase of recruitment drive. Legal recruitment firm Juriscape India has also evinced keen interest to visit the campus shortly. It would be targeting students of Law, English and Journalism departments. The recruited ones would be absorbed as content writers, legal aid assistants and researchers.
Offers have also come in for students of the department of Fisheries Science. Companies like IFB-Agro Industries and Bay Seafood, both Kolkata-based firms, would be holding recruitment drives in the coming months.
Tech firms like Infosys, TCS, Wipro BPO, HSBC, Genpact Mindtree, Subex Azure, Mindfire Solutions and Exillant have already conducted several rounds of placement drives. …
The U.S. produces about 1,400 Ph.D.s in computer science annually and China about 3,000. By stark comparison, India’s annual computer science Ph.D. production languishes at roughly 40. That number is about the same as that for Israel, a nation with roughly 5% of India’s population size.
While India needs all the new IITs, IIITs and Central Universities that the PM announced during his Aug 15 speech, one wonders where from these institutions will get Ph.Ds for their faculty. The government and the IT industry must brainstorm together and come up with a strategy to tackle this. Following are some initial un-coordinated half-baked thoughts.
Start motivating good students from an early age about the value of research. This can be done through science magnet schools.
In IITs and IISc and may be a few other selected institutions have a track similar to MD/PH.D tracks in US medical schools. Students in this track would pursue a B.Tech-P.hD program (no need for MS) and would be given a generous stipends.
To allow more time for IIT/IISc faculty to pursue research and guide Ph.D students these institutions (especially their CS depts.) should take in more M.Tech students and let them do most of the teaching.
Government should open special graduate centers in IT/Computer Science (may be as branches of exisiting IITs) that only focus on research. For example, the IIT Kharagpur center in Bhubaneswar may house a faculty of 5-10 CS professors and offer *only* a Ph.D program in computer science. Such centers may have affiliated faculty (who have Ph.Ds) from nearby engineering colleges. Such centers should be slowly opened in every metropolitan area with 15+ engineering colleges. (The IIITs could have served this purpose but it seems most IIITs are focusing on undergraduate education. Exceptions are IIIT Hyderabad, which has a good research program; IIIT Bangalore which only offers M.Tech and Ph.D and the nascent IIIT Bhubaneswar which will also only have M.Tech and Ph.D program, at least in the beginning. )
Government needs to offer better salary and perks to professors so that more students are attracted to a career in academia.
The PM’s independence day speech will be remembered for a long time for its groundbreaking educational steps. Here, we analyze them vis-a-vis Orissa.
K-12
"We will support 6,000 new high quality schools — one in every block of the country" [Orissa has 314 blocks. Currently the central govt has three kinds of schools: Kendriya Vidyalayas, Navodaya Vidyalayas and Ekalabya Vidyalayas. My guess is these will be Navodaya Vidyalayas. Until now, Navodaya Vidyalayas were being made one per district. Extending it to one per block will do wonders.]
Higher education
"We will also ensure that adequate numbers of colleges are set up across the country, especially in districts where enrollment levels are low. We will help States set up colleges in 370 such districts." [Orissa has 30 districts. As per the NSSO study of 2004-2005, Table 3.14.1 shows that in the 15-19 age group 29% people in Orissa are attending school/college and in the 20-24 age group this number for Orissa is 6.1%. (Both numbers are lowest among all but the small states/UTs of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu and Lakshadweep.) For the Scheduled Tribe population these numbers are 17.1% for the 15-19 age group and 4.1% for the 20-24 age group.]
"We will set up thirty new Central Universities. Every state that does not have a central university will now have one." [Orissa does not have one so it should get one. But considering that there are 23 other existing central universities, making it a total of 53 central universities, Orissa should get two.]
"we are setting up five new Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research" [The five IISERs are at Pune, Kolkata, Mohali, Bhopal, and Trivendrum. A NISER is being set up in Bhubaneswar.]
"eight new Indian Institutes of Technology" [Three of these IITs are announced to be in Bihar, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh. Orissa should get one of the other five IITs.]
"seven new Indian Institutes of Management" [Announcements have been made with respect to Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Shillong. If Orissa gets a new IIT then its chance of getting a new IIM this round is much less. Orissa should try though.]
"twenty new Indian Institutes of Information Technology." [There will be one in each main states, including Orissa, which does not have one. Existing ones are at Allahabad, Amethi, Jabalpur, and Gwalior and a new one is being established at Kanchipuram. ]
Vocational Education
"We will soon launch a Mission on Vocational Education and Skill Development, through which we will open 1600 new industrial training institutes (ITIs) and polytechnics, 10,000 new vocational schools and 50,000 new Skill Development Centres."
"We will ensure that annually, over 100 lakh students get vocational training – which is a four-fold increase from today’s level."
More scholarships
"We should seek not just functional literacy, but good quality education – education that is affordable, accessible, equitable – and available to every boy and girl who seeks to study. For the needy we will provide more scholarships."
Towards this end, our Government has decided to invest in setting up good quality schools across the country. We will support 6,000 new high quality schools — one in every block of the country. Each such school will set standards of excellence for other schools in the area.
As our primary education programmes achieve a degree of success, there is growing demand for secondary schools and colleges. We are committed to universalizing secondary education. An extensive programme for this is being finalized.
We will also ensure that adequate numbers of colleges are set up across the country, especially in districts where enrolment levels are low. We will help States set up colleges in 370 such districts.
The University system, which has been relatively neglected in recent years, is now the focus of our reform and development agenda. We will set up thirty new Central Universities. Every state that does not have a central university will now have one.
In order to promote science and professional education, we are setting up five new Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research, eight new Indian Institutes of Technology, seven new Indian Institutes of Management, and twenty new Indian Institutes of Information Technology. These will generate new educational opportunities for our youth. I am sure that, working together, we can ensure that at least a fifth of our children go to college as compared to one-tenth now.
The vast majority of our youth seek skilled employment after schooling. Last year I spoke the need for a Vocational Education Mission. Such a Mission is ready to be launched. We will soon launch a Mission on Vocational Education and Skill Development, through which we will open 1600 new industrial training institutes (ITIs) and polytechnics, 10,000 new vocational schools and 50,000 new Skill Development Centres.
We will ensure that annually, over 100 lakh students get vocational training – which is a four-fold increase from today’s level. We will seek the active help of the private sector in this initiative so that they not only assist in the training but also lend a hand in providing employment opportunities.
We should seek not just functional literacy, but good quality education – education that is affordable, accessible, equitable – and available to every boy and girl who seeks to study. For the needy we will provide more scholarships.
I wish to see a revolution in the field of modern education in the next few years. It is my fervent desire that India becomes a fully educated, modern, progressive nation. From this historic Red Fort, I would like this message to go to every corner of India – we will make India a nation of educated people, of skilled people, of creative people.
This is the first time eight new IITs have been formally and officially mentioned. Three of these were previously announced to be in Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar. So it would be a shame if Orissa does not get one of the remaining five.
Following are excerpts from a report in The Hindu:
… Surmounting heavy odds, the well-trained rugby team of the Bhubaneswar-based Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) was now ready to take on the world, representing India at an under-14 international school rugby tournament in London.
For the products of the country’s largest school for tribal communities, rugby was just the right tool to unleash their collective talent. Hitherto dismissed to their miserable tribal hinterland, the students had a mission: to prove their mettle to a world cynically ignorant of the tribal life, their dreams and ambitions.
KISS, a sister concern of the KIIT Deemed University, had picked them out of their poverty-stricken families to offer an education, to get them a slice of mainstream life. Nurtured in the residential campus since age six, the team members were now prepared to announce their arrival. London beckoned, so did recognition and fame.
The training
Behind their collective exuberance was a well-tuned method. Thirty students had been selected from a first list of 56, who underwent rigorous training by a World Rugby Association coach.
The 30 proved their worth at a tournament in Kolkata on July 16, watched closely by their sponsors, the Kolkata Jungle Crows.
The final 12 now await the flight for the big fight on September 24, but not before some fine-tuning by an English coach, Paul Walsh, and two coaches from the Kolkata Rugby Association.
“We are confident of beating the other teams.” This remark by the KISS Rugby team captain to a visiting media team from Bangalore, had a solidity built on months of disciplined training. “From 6 a.m. to 7.30 a.m., 4 p.m. to 6.30 p.m., we are at it every day,” explained the team’s school coach, Manash Jena.
The team
Tag Rugby was the team’s first brush with the game, 18 months ago. Graduating to full rugby in quick time, the team captained by Bikash Chandra Murmu practised hard. Any tribe-based differences forgotten, the students were now part of one team. It had Chitta Ranjan Mumu and Babula Malka, Raj Kishore Murmu and Bukai Hansda, Niranjan Biswal, Hadi Dhangada Majhi, Sahadev Majhi, Gauranga Jamuda, Narsingh Kerai, Barial Beshra and Ganesh Hembram. Represented were the tribes Banda, Santal, Bathudi, Kandha and Kolha, whose people were otherwise dismissed to the poor rural backyard of Orissa.
The vision
Tribal people make up 23.13 per cent of Orissa’s population. It needed a body as systematic as KISS to pull them out of obscurity and neglect.
It was eventually left to philanthropist and Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) founder Achyutananda Samanta to make that critical difference through KISS. …
A proposal for setting up of 16 Central Universities – one each in such States as have no Central University – is in the process of being finalized. Orissa being one of such States, its request for establishment of a Central University in the tribal dominated KBK region shall receive due consideration. Further, a Bill for setting up a Central Tribal University is in the process of being introduced in the current session of the Parliament. The proposed University shall have power to establish its Regional Centres in the areas inhabited by tribal population, which could include KBK region of Orissa.
This was stated by the Minister of State for Human Resource Development Smt. D. Purandeswari in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.
It is proposed to establish 30 Central Universities during the XIth Plan and the first two years of the XIIth Plan period, subject to the Plan being finalized.
While a common entrance test would be desirable, in keeping with the NCMP commitment of the autonomy, any such decision would be taken by the concerned Universities after they come into existence.
An estimated 20% of the budgeted expenditure on higher education is met currently by the Central Government.
Action for establishment, in the first phase, of one Central University in each of the 16 States which do not have a Central University so far has already been initiated. The financial requirement of these Universities is estimated at Rs.4,800 crore during the 11th Plan period at an average of Rs.300 crore per University. This was stated by the Minister of State for Human Resource Development Smt. D. Purandeswari in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.
It is proposed to establish during the XIth Plan, one Central University in each State with no such University and provide assistance for establishing one college in each district with low Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education.
As at present, 23 Central Universities in 14 States/Union Territories have been functioning under the purview of Ministry of Human Resource Development. Action for establishment of a Central University in each of the remaining 16 States, namely Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand, has already been initiated.
This was stated by the Minister of State for Human Resource Development Smt. D. Purandeswari in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.
Subject to availability of resources, it is proposed to establish new Central Universities and to develop existing Universities to world standards. The XIth Plan is yet to be finalized.
This was stated by the Minister of State for Human Resource Development Smt. D. Purandeswari in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.
One of the above PIB mentions that there are 23 existing central universities. From our list it seems the 23 are in the following 14 states: Andhra Pradesh (2), Arunachal Pradesh (1), Assam (2), Delhi (4), Maharastra (1), Manipur (2), Meghalaya (1), Mizoram (1), Nagaland (1), Pondicherry (1), Sikkim (1), Tripura (1), Uttar Pradesh (4), and West Bengal (1).
Thousands of tribals in Orissa’s poverty ridden Kalahandi, Bolangir and Koraput (KBK) districts may soon have access to better higher education with a central university being planned there.
The human resource development (HRD) ministry Monday said it was weighing a state government proposal to set up such a university in the region.
‘Orissa being one of such states (without a central university), its request for establishment of a central university in the tribal-dominated KBK region shall receive due consideration,’ Minister of State for HRD D. Purandeswari said.
‘Further, a bill for setting up a central tribal university is in the process of being introduced in the current session of parliament,’ Purandeswari informed the Rajya Sabha.
The proposed university shall have power to establish its regional centres in areas inhabited by tribals.
The HRD ministry had earlier said there was a proposal for setting up 16 central universities in states where there was no such university.
Following is Lalit Patnaik’s report and pictures on it.
Dear Friends,
On behalf of Agami Odisha, me and Dillip Sabat has been deputed to participate in the mass rally for demand of KBK university. Our President sri Dhiren Ray wished us good luck in the departing moment.
We have to travel 700 KM to reach Malkangiri from Bhubaneswar. 350 KM by Train up to Vizaynagaram, and subsequently by Bus another 225 Km through Ghat up to Jeypore and rest 125 Km through deep jungle to Malkangiri. We reached their in the early morning hours to be received by Malkangiri MLA Mr Nimai Sarkar and his associates. We proceeded to Dandakaranya Guest House and found Police in the nook and corner of Malkangiri town, the last one of Orissa before Chattishgarah. The town is Naxal infected and it needs courage to live there, for Police as well as for People.
Mr Sadan naik, MLA of Kodinga came along with his associate by 11 am and our rally started at 11.30 am from bus stand arena. I was really surprised to see the large gathering of students( Young men and women ) of not less than 1250 in number. There were around 250 Intellectuals, business men and retired old persons. The rally was led at three places, front one by Intellectuals, the middle one by the women students and the last one by Men students. the slogan of KBK University is our demand reverberated the high walls of Malkangiri Mountain and almost entire town was by the side road watching the marathon rally of nearly 1 Km long. The rally moved for 2 hours and culminated at Collector’s Office. Collector rushed to his office from a meeting some where else so as to receive our Memorandum to the President of India. Even after handing over of memorandum, the students were in no mood to disperse but went on giving slogans for their right to have a University around KBK. The people were aghast since long, because the nearest University of Berhampur is 500 Km away from their place.
Sincerity of their demand was well visible from the eyes of those boys as well as girl students. After wards, the president of their college walked close to me and expressed his thanks to Agamee odisha for taking up their cause. In return I assured him to carry their message to the Swabhimani odiya all over the world, to support in their endeavor to get an Central funded University at KBK.
They are struggling for their right to higher education, amidst the chaos of Naxalisim. They are not demanding their land to be annexed to Chattisgarah, a very close by State, nor are they demanding for more food or money but are only asking for a Central University, which we all should fight and get it for them, is not it. Are they not real swabhimani Odiya’s ?.
While staying 700 Km away from the capital, they are reciting the song of Mother Odiya, day in and day out.
KISS, Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences is made and run by the promoters of KIIT University. Hindu has a very nice article about it. Following are some excerpts.
A sister concern of the Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), KISS is a working dream that trained the tribal children to be self-reliant, resourceful and empowered to tackle the challenges of life.
For the visiting media team from Bangalore, KISS was an education in looking beyond urban-centric development. From the well-stocked library, hostel and computer centre to a medical facility that insured every child, KISS is also a home away from home. The institute ensures that the children have enough exposure to their tribal culture, heritage and tradition. …
Today, there are children here from most of the 52 tribes of Orissa, including 13 primitive tribes. This year, we added 700 more tribal children to reach the strength of 5,000,” he informed.
…
For 22 of the brightest from KISS students, Dr. Samanta had reserved free engineering seats in KIIT, five per cent of the total intake.
“This year, the BCA and BBM courses were opened for them. The tribal students will leave this organisation with a job.” As the KIIT Deemed University Chancellor assured this, he was working on an expansion plan: a project to add another 5,000 children to India’s biggest residential tribal school in the next three years.
To improve the quality of engineering colleges in Orissa, IIIT Bhubaneswar should offer weekend M.tech for Engineering College faculty. This will be similar to weekend MBAs offered to working executives at many universities in the USA. To encourage the private engineering colleges to send their faculty for M.Tech Orissa government and BPUT should decide the fees amount based on how many faculty with M.tech (or pursuing M.tech) or more a particular college has.
A Kashmir news paper mentions this. However, In Orissa there has not been any recent news on the establishment of a DAIICT (Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information & Communication Technology) campus. Last year there was such a proposal as part of a package related to the Anil Ambani group’s investment in Orissa; but that is stalled due to dispute between the Orissa government and a power company partly owned by the Anil Ambani group.
… the institute has received green signal from the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) to start M-Tech classes.
… So he along with his colleague Professor A K Das impressed upon the AICTE authorities about the requirement of the state vis-à-vis its ever growing engineering colleges, which are facing dearth of qualitative faculties.
S.N.Tripathy, Secretary IT and Vishal Dev, Director IT also extended their support in this regard.
Overwhelmed by the initiative the AICTE has allowed the IIIT-Bh to go for M.Tech and research initiatives in the first year itself.
“Now it has been decided to enroll 60 students in M. Tech courses in computer science”, said Prof.Nayak.
He said that a committee headed by Professor S.Sadagopan, Director IIIT Bangalore will soon finalize the admission criteria of students, syllabus and fee structure. …
The institution is also in the process of blending both experienced and renowned professors along with young and energetic talents as faculty members, said Prof.Nayak.
At the first place at least 6 professors and associate professors will be roped in and later more will be joining the institution, said he.
Harping on the vision, Prof. Nayak said that IIIT-Bh will be an unique institute imparting education, training, research, and consulting in technology and related fields to develop human resources who will lead the economy and the society in the coming decades.
He said the mission of IIIT-Bh is to be a knowledge seeking Institution of higher learning that will educate students in technology and other disciplines of scholarship.
According to Prof. Das the software major Infosys has agreed to set up a Chair with a rolling fund of Rs.1 crore and TCS is also inclined to support the institute in a big way.
The Institute will work closely with the Industry and other users of the technology including the state government to develop and deliver technological solutions to enhance their competitive position, said the Director.
The IIIT-Bh, which has 23 acres of land in the outskirts of the Capital City is also eying for another big patch of land adjacent to the allotted site as it is planning to go for a deemed university status for operational autonomy. …
NEW DELHI: In a major rollout for high and technical education, Planning Commission has proposed a seven-year special plan (2007-14) which includes setting up eight new IITs, seven new IIMs, 20 NITs, 20 IIITs and 50 centres for training and research in frontier areas.
Of the IITs, three have already been cleared and one IIM at Shillong has received the green signal. The seven-year special plan for higher and technical education would start in the 11th Plan and spill over to the next without being diluted. The plan panel has proposed a funding of Rs 1.31 lakh crore for the seven year plan.
The full Planning Commission will discuss the proposal threadbare when it meets on August 6 to deliberate exclusively on the impetus that should be delivered to education for the 11th Plan.
The special plan envisages setting up of 30 central universities. One central university will be located in each of the 16 uncovered states while 14 new ones of world class will come up in states which provide land free of cost in attractive locations.
These universities will have various schools including medical and engineering institutions. Also, 370 new degree colleges in districts with low gross enrolment ratio would be established and 6,000 colleges would be strengthened.
In the field of technical education, the seven-year plan talks of expansion and upgradation of 200 technical institutions in various states. There is also a plan to upgrade seven technical universities which include Bengal Engineering College, Howrah, Cochin University of Science & Technology, Andhra University Engineering College, Vishakapatnam, University Engineering College, Osmania University, Jadavpur University, Institute of Technology BHU and Zakir Husain College of Engineering & Technology, AMU.
Apart from eight IITs and seven IIMs, there is a plan to have five Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research, two Schools of Planning and Architecture, 20 National Institutes of Technology, 20 Indian Institutes of Information Technology and 50 centres of training and research in frontier areas.
The central assistance under the special plan has a very strong reform component and looks up to states to agree for a minimum set of reforms to restructure higher education system covering admission, revision in curricula, collaboration with foreign universities and networking.
