IIT Bhubaneswar yet to take a 'concrete' shape:
BHUBANESWAR: Inordinate delay in construction of its permanent campus, vacant seats and shortage of faculty members has reduced IITBhubaneswar (IITBBS) to just another engineering college. Institute director MadhusudanChakraborty, however, asserted that the city IIT is on the right track to meet the mandate for which it was created.
Though IITBBS was the first among the eight new IITs to start functioning and got 518 acre (of the total over 900 acre) in February 2009, the construction work is still in its initial stages. A visit to the campus site at Arugul village, on the outskirts of the city, reveals only some internal roads and an 800-seat hostel building are under construction. Only 50% of the work on the boundary wall, which started in March 2009, is complete. National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), whose construction was started alongside that of IITBBS in 2008, is nearing completion at Jatni.
Sources said the Union ministry of human resources development (MHRD) had approved construction of a building spread over 2,21,000 square metres, but the institute has obtained approval of Bhubaneswar Development Authority for 1,27,000 square metres. The 256th report of the Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resource Development of Rajya Sabha, earlier this year, described the progress in construction of IITBBS, along with IIT-Mandi, as "very discouraging".
Twelve out of 160 BTech seats were lying vacant after the first-round of counselling, though institute sources said the same were later filled up. According to data presented by the Union government in the Rajya Sabha on March 22, some seats remained vacant in the institute most of the years.
While there were no takers for seven seats in 2012, eight remained vacant in 2011. Similarly, 11 seats remained unoccupied in 2009. All seats were exhausted in 2010. The total number of seats was 120 all these years, which was increased to 160 this year.
IITBBS sources said there are around 75 teachers against the sanctioned faculty strength of 90. The maximum vacancies are at the middle level (associate professors).
The institute director defended the 'perceived' shortcomings and said IITBBS will strengthen the brand IIT with its very good faculty and interdisciplinary approach of education. "Some seats going vacant don't in any way indicate that demand for IIT has gone down. Some of the very bright students qualify most of pre-admission entrance examinations. A student qualifying for IIT may choose a course in medicine or study abroad or a stream of choice in an NIT. Seat allotted to him is bound to go vacant in the first round of counselling. Only 10,000 students were picked for IIT admission from among 12 lakh who took the JEE (main)," Chakraborty said.
On faculty shortage, Chakraborty said it is a global problem. "Because of comparatively low salary earlier, not too many bright students opted for teaching as a career leading to the current phase of vacuum. The trend is, however, changing," he said.
On slow pace of campus work, he said since the project size is huge, the planning process was bound to take time. "Tender would soon be floated for construction of the administrative building and various schools," he said. IIT construction should not be compared with NISER as the department of atomic energy, governing NISER, has its own construction wing to oversee the building work and its size is much smaller.
Source:Times of India
BHUBANESWAR: Inordinate delay in construction of its permanent campus, vacant seats and shortage of faculty members has reduced IITBhubaneswar (IITBBS) to just another engineering college. Institute director MadhusudanChakraborty, however, asserted that the city IIT is on the right track to meet the mandate for which it was created.
Though IITBBS was the first among the eight new IITs to start functioning and got 518 acre (of the total over 900 acre) in February 2009, the construction work is still in its initial stages. A visit to the campus site at Arugul village, on the outskirts of the city, reveals only some internal roads and an 800-seat hostel building are under construction. Only 50% of the work on the boundary wall, which started in March 2009, is complete. National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER), whose construction was started alongside that of IITBBS in 2008, is nearing completion at Jatni.
Sources said the Union ministry of human resources development (MHRD) had approved construction of a building spread over 2,21,000 square metres, but the institute has obtained approval of Bhubaneswar Development Authority for 1,27,000 square metres. The 256th report of the Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resource Development of Rajya Sabha, earlier this year, described the progress in construction of IITBBS, along with IIT-Mandi, as "very discouraging".
Twelve out of 160 BTech seats were lying vacant after the first-round of counselling, though institute sources said the same were later filled up. According to data presented by the Union government in the Rajya Sabha on March 22, some seats remained vacant in the institute most of the years.
While there were no takers for seven seats in 2012, eight remained vacant in 2011. Similarly, 11 seats remained unoccupied in 2009. All seats were exhausted in 2010. The total number of seats was 120 all these years, which was increased to 160 this year.
IITBBS sources said there are around 75 teachers against the sanctioned faculty strength of 90. The maximum vacancies are at the middle level (associate professors).
The institute director defended the 'perceived' shortcomings and said IITBBS will strengthen the brand IIT with its very good faculty and interdisciplinary approach of education. "Some seats going vacant don't in any way indicate that demand for IIT has gone down. Some of the very bright students qualify most of pre-admission entrance examinations. A student qualifying for IIT may choose a course in medicine or study abroad or a stream of choice in an NIT. Seat allotted to him is bound to go vacant in the first round of counselling. Only 10,000 students were picked for IIT admission from among 12 lakh who took the JEE (main)," Chakraborty said.
On faculty shortage, Chakraborty said it is a global problem. "Because of comparatively low salary earlier, not too many bright students opted for teaching as a career leading to the current phase of vacuum. The trend is, however, changing," he said.
On slow pace of campus work, he said since the project size is huge, the planning process was bound to take time. "Tender would soon be floated for construction of the administrative building and various schools," he said. IIT construction should not be compared with NISER as the department of atomic energy, governing NISER, has its own construction wing to oversee the building work and its size is much smaller.
Source:Times of India
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