IT-BHU to join the IIT league; 8 new IITs added too

By Ruchi Shrimali

The Institute of Technology (Amendment) Bill 2011, which had been passed in Lok Sabha last year, has finally made it through Rajya Sabha too. The Bill has cleared the way to the coveted IIT status for the Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University (IT-BHU), effective from this year.

IIT, BHU will not be autonomous like other IITs and will share a strong synergy with Banaras Hindu University. The HRD ministry hopes to promote cross-disciplinary research through integrative administration between the two prestigious institutions, at the same time protecting the heritage and character of the university.

For three years, BHU Vice-Chancellor will be the Chairman of the Board of Directors of IIT, BHU. The Executive Council of BHU will also nominate two other members of the Board of Directors of the institute and three members to the Senate of IIT, BHU. After three years, BHU VC may nominate himself or any of his nominees as Vice-Chairman of IIT, BHU.

The status of an IIT not only adds market-value to the degree of the institution but also mean more grants for better research, and prospects of improved quality of faculty members and students for the institute. IIT, BHU will be the first IIT in the country to have the benefit of working closely with other prestigious institutions like Banaras Hindu University and facilitate interdisciplinary and translational research.

BHU also has medical and agriculture institutes. The ministry pointed out that the move will not undermine the autonomy of the university but grant its engineering departments the status of being an institute of national importance. To be developed on the existing 300-acre campus, instead of the standard IIT requirement of 500-acre, the IIT, BHU campus will be close to the Banaras Hindu University to facilitate collaboration between the two and provisions will be made as to not disturb its interdisciplinary status. See details

At present, IIT, BHU has nine engineering departments, three applied science departments, three schools, a pharmacy institute, and more than 5,000 students.

Eight new IITs waiting for the Bill to be passed, including those in Bhubaneshwar, Gandhinagar, Hyderabad, Indore, Jodhpur, Mandi, Patna and Ropar, have also received the green flag. Their students were waiting for the bill to be passed to receive their ‘IIT' degrees.

The last two batches of IT-BHU, which graduated in 2010 and 2011, had also been granted provisional degrees by the varsity in the hope of getting an ‘IIT' status. Now, they can look forward to receiving the IIT, BHU degree in this year's convocation. Read more

The other key Bill passed by Rajya Sabha was The National Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Bill 2011. This bill declares that certain institutes of technology and five Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs situated in Kolkata, Pune, Mohali, Bhopal and Thiruvananthapuram) will be granted the status of being the institutions of national importance. Members of Board of Directors of the IISER institutes will also establish a Council for the purpose. Know more