According to newspaper reports, the Government of India has announced the committee that would guide the selection of the five institutions to be the five new IITs. The committee is made of eminent academics, scientists and research administrators. This gives us tremendous hope that the selection of the institutions will be based on academic credentials!
- The committee members are:
- Dr. K. Kasturi Rangan MP, Former Chairman ISRO, President Indian Science Congress, Chairman Board of Governors IIT Madras, Conferred D. Sc. by BHU in 1994 http://www.isro.org/krangan/biodata_krangan.htm
- Dr. R. Natarajan Chairman, All India Council For Technical Education http://www.aicte.ernet.in/
- Prof V. S.Raju Former Director of IIT Delhi, Former Professor Civil Engg at ITBHU
- Mr. S. K. Joshi Chairman of Board of Governors IIT Roorkee, Former Director of CSIR http://itt.nissat.tripod.com/itt95023/dgcsir.htm
- H S Bhartiya Industrialist, Chairman Jubilant Organosys, Former Chairman Board of Governors IIT Kanpur
If you have close contacts with the committee members and can make a presentation in person, please contact us to help collect the material to highlight our institute.
If you notice any spelling errors in the names of the committee members or their affiliations, please inform the author immediately.
Comments from the alumni :
Sanjay:
Thanks for the update.
a) For the first time in history of IIT selection process, govt. has formed a committee made up entirely of prominent academicians and industry leaders. This will make the selection process impartial, and keep the politicians at bay. It should be noted that two of the committee members are connected to ITBHU, in one way or another.
b) In spite of this, some political push and pull is going to take place, since some of the states are part of NDA govt. and general election is appoaching. According to media reports, Andhra Pradesh is leading the race, followed by Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan and Punjab. States such as Karnataka are working behing the scene. We lack the support of our state, although that is not a deciding factor. Moreover, (except perhaps NIT Warangal), govt. is not keen on converting NITs into IITs. The institutes under considerations are ITBHU, BITS, IISc, etc.
c)Read recent report in economic times (dated 29 Dec/Oil & Gas section), which states that IIT-D, IIT-M and ITBHU are involved in developing hydrogen gas as a fuel for the future, with ITBHU leading the race.
d)As per an unconfirmed report (I am still trying to verify it), a couple of months ago, World Bank submitted its report on assessment of premier technical reserch institutes in India, to HRD ministry. According to that report, ITBHU scored 52 points, second only to an IIT which scored 54 points. HRD ministry was impressed by this outcome.
e)Our PM is going methodically in establishing IITs and NITs. It is likely that our institute will be the first one to be converted. In that case, class of 2004 will pass out with IIT-V certificate.
Yogesh Upadhyaya
Chemical Engineering 1977
Awesome ! I Hope from the bottom of my heart that our institute gets its long deserved status of IIT, as soon as possible. Is there an alumni fund in USA or India where alumni could contribute monetarily ? I've pledged dollars to my alma mater, but I need a genuine fund to divert that money to. Could we set up something like ITBHU Alumni Fund and incorporate it in USA ? The money collected should be used only for the development of our institute and should not fill the coiffers of BHU netas.
Posted by: Chetan Pradhan on December 31, 2003 07:13 AM
Dr. O. N. Srivastava, Department of Physics, IT-BHU is among the 4 scientists in India selected for the Goyal prize.
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2001/20011020/haryana.htm#1
He is receiving this award for his ground breaking research in hydrogen fuel as mentioned by Mr. Yogesh Upadhyaya. IT-BHU is the leading research center in hydrogen fuel research. Few months ago a multi-disciplinary team of IT-BHU (led by Dr. O. N. Srivastava, Dr. A. R. Verma, and others) ran a hydrogen-powered Hero Honda motorcycle for hours before senior executives from the Indian Oil Corporation and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation.
http://in.news.yahoo.com/030708/43/25ssu.html
Dr. Srivastava is also recipient of S.S. Bhatnagar Award in physical sciences.
Posted by: Nitin Mohan on December 31, 2003 12:04 PM
Recently came across this article about extending the IIT brand. The author, an alumnus of IIT Delhi, is Commissioner of Customs and Excise. He also stresses on the need of converting IT-BHU, ISM Dhanbad, and BITS Pilani into IITs.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/bline/2003/02/18/stories/2003021800090900.htm
Posted by: Nitin Mohan on January 2, 2004 07:19 PM
We had the opportunity of meeting a senior offical of the MHRD who visited our institution. He categorically stated that no NIT (including warangal ) would be made into an IIT.
He said that other 'old and prestigious' institutions would be given IIT status, and that they would take the decision only after the report of the Expert committee
IT BHU is probably the best bet for getting IIT status
Posted by: Ankur Jain on January 5, 2004 07:14 AM
A recent article to setupr new IITs has appeared in Hindustan Times.
http://hindustantimes.com/news/181_528203%2C00300006.htm
The last paragraph says one of the criteria for the conversion. I think they are underestimating the research output of ITBHU in terms of research papers. As far as funding intake is concerned, I believe it is limited for ITBHU beacuse of no affiliation with industry for privately funded projects as BHU policy demands the funds to flow on the name of BHU and not ITBHU alone. A brand of IIT would help funds flow for projects from industry. Any views?
Posted by: Vikas-CER-2001 on January 28, 2004 10:53 AM
Vikas:
Thanks for info about the article "Cheaper IITs? May be, More? No" in Hindustan Times. My comment about research capabilities of non-IIT institutes is edited and posted by the newspaper.
To view the comment, click on "Read other views" at the end of the article. You can also access it directly using following link:
http://hindustantimes.com/onlineCDA/general/HTOtherHaveYourSay.jsp
Yogesh Upadhyaya
Chemical Engineering 1977
Posted by: yogesh upadhyaya on January 30, 2004 09:28 AM
To reduce the desparity that is existing, the conversion of NIT's into IIT's must be encouraged
Posted by: Abhinav on March 15, 2004 03:54 AMhi yogesh
could u please tell me when is the announcement for the establishment of 5 new iit's going to come
After the Elections, dude. EC will screw our happiness otherwise for "Ulanghan of Achar Sahita"
Go figure.
Its a pity that this site has been closed for visitors. At least there were some genuine visitors . I think IT BHU deserves IIT status and any other college which deserves IIT status is NIT Trichy. No other college has the calibre or the infrastructure to get converted into IIT
Posted by: AK on March 17, 2004 12:31 AMAmit and Raj:
This is regarding your query about announcement for IIT:
a)The Election Commission has declared an unusually strict code of conduct this time. For example, read Indian Express dated 5th March (www.indianexpress.com/full-story.php?content_id=42388). It states that Election Commission refused to allow Union Minister Arun Shourie to attend his own convocation at a public function at Kanpur University. Any announcement about IIT made during election time can be challenged as being in party interest, rather than in national interest. It is likely that the announcement shall be made only after the election is over. Exact time is for anybody to guess.
b)Also refer to interview given by Honourable HRD minister at the inauguration function of NIT, Patna on 20th February (www.timesofindia.com/articleshow/509584.cms). During that interview, Journalists, who are usually well informed than the average mass, repeatedly asked about possibility of setting up brand new IITs. We don’t know, but it is likely that govt. may setup one or more brand new IITs in friendly southern states, after the election is over. This may be because quality conscious IIT board may not have found any suitable institutes in some of the states. The difference between converted IIT and new one is the cost, since new one costs about Rs 1500 crores vs. converted one, which will cost about Rs. 300 crores. However, this is my own conclusion, since it is difficult to get any confirmed news.
c) As far as ‘Achar Samhita’ is concerned, we should not reveal any govt. info in advance (if we have any) and should refrain from discussing possible names of institutes. It is OK to comment on any published news item.
Yogesh Upadhyaya
Chemical Engineering 1977
Yogesh ji,
But it is also written that five NITs are being converted int IITs. What about that, we were hearing that NITs are not being considered.
Abhijeet
Posted by: Abhijeet on March 18, 2004 05:59 AMyogesh,
do you have any information if only NIT's are converted to iits or other colleges also.
Abhijeet,
You have understand that MMJ does not want to stir another controversy. So far the official facad has been that NITs will be converted. It is only a internal story ( so it seems ) that NITs stand no chance.
MMJ wants people to live in thier own dreamy world until the elections -- the world in which NITs ( all 18 of them ) are hoping that they will become IITs -- he wont burst thier bubble until then.
Posted by: to Abhijeet on March 18, 2004 12:22 PMthere is no logic in the thinking that nit's shouldn't be converted into iit's.even if they lack any infrastructure then govt. should help them. it should be noted that talented students who unfortunately couldn't make it in iit's take admission in iit's .even those getting low ranks in iit-jee took admission in nit's. in short nit's are 2nd choice of students after iit's.nation will only benefit if top nit's are converted into iit's.the talented students of nit's shouldn't feel cheated.
Posted by: saurabh agrawal on March 19, 2004 01:41 AMthere is no logic in the thinking that nit's shouldn't be converted into iit's.even if they lack any infrastructure then govt. should help them. it should be noted that talented students who unfortunately couldn't make it in nit's take admission in iit's .even those getting low ranks in iit-jee took admission in nit's. in short nit's are 2nd choice of students after iit's.nation will only benefit if top nit's are converted into iit's.the talented students of nit's shouldn't feel cheated.
Posted by: saurabh agrawal on March 19, 2004 01:47 AMthere is no logic in the thinking that nit's shouldn't be converted into iit's.even if they lack any infrastructure then govt. should help them. it should be noted that talented students who unfortunately couldn't make it in iit's take admission in nit's .even those getting low ranks in iit-jee took admission in nit's. in short nit's are 2nd choice of students after iit's.nation will only benefit if top nit's are converted into iit's.the talented students of nit's shouldn't feel cheated.
Posted by: saurabh agrawal on March 19, 2004 01:48 AMI have heard following institutes are becoming IITs : BHU, NIT Trichy, NIT Surathkal, NIT Warangal, PEC Chandigarh. Correct me if some body has some other info
Posted by: ak on March 20, 2004 10:28 AMAbhijeet, To Abhijeet, Pecobian, Saurabh, AK, etc.
This is regarding recent news item about converting 5 NITs into IITs. I do not want to clog our website with comments from pro-NIT and anti-NIT camps. However I wish to clarify the matter from my point of view:
Confusion has been created based on news item about inauguration function of NIT, Patna on 20th Feb. (www.timesofindia.com/articleshow/509584.cms). It was a standard reply given by honourable HRD minister when reporters pressed for the names of IITs to be set up. Before that, he also mentioned that the govt. has not yet received a report from Selection Committee. In the past also, reporters received similar reply whenever they inquired about possible names for IITs. Please do not jump into the conclusion until announced by the Prime Minister. Region wise, one IIT is planned in northern India, one in north-west region and rest in southern states.
Yogesh Upadhyaya
Chemical Engineering 1977
Dear All
What is the latest on new IITs. Any news when the formal declaration will be done
make nit an iit and lower the status of iit?
Posted by: tej on April 19, 2004 04:43 AMhey
why not make iisc an iit?
this will elevate the staus of iits
Why have things become so quiet on this forum nowadays? Has the movement for the conversion of IT-BHU to IIT lost steam or has the great thing happened that the HRD ministry has decided to upgrade IT-BHU to IIT and is only delaying the announcement??
Posted by: Krishna Murty (Mech-90) on April 22, 2004 05:15 AMGuys
What is the latest on IIT declarartion. Is it on cards after elections or will it take a couple of years like all govt processes
ak
the only institute according to me (in order) that deserve iit status are as follows
1.it-bhu
2.nitw,warangal
3.nit,trichy
4.nit,allahabad(mnr)
5.nit,surathkal
but if the govt. thinks a atate can have only one iit then nit,trichy and nit allahabad are unlucky.they really deserve iit status
Krishna Murty & AK:
Thanks for your query about IIT issue.
As of today, government has almost decided about the issue and hinted to the respective state governments and institutes about possibility of converting into IITs. Government planned earlier to make the announcement coinciding with elections, but backed off when Election Commission announced strict code of conduct for all parties.
However, the final decision will depend upon the outcome of parliament and state assembly elections. If the ruling NDA party gets a majority, then the announcement may come as early as in July/August. If opposition party comes into power, then they may have a fresh look at the issue and may favor some of the friendly states. If no one gets clear majority or if there is a hung parliament, etc., then the issue will be kept pending for an indefinite period of time.
Because of obvious reasons, we refrain to discuss this issue for the time being. Discussion will be resumed with latest update, shortly after the election is over and new government is installed.
Yogesh Upadhyaya
Chemical Engineering 1977
If it's a matter of quality then TIET,Patiala & BHU are the first ones that should be considered for next IITs.
Thereafter NITW & PEC,Chandigarah.
Posted by: umesh on April 29, 2004 11:04 AMThe truth is outhere
Posted by: Benton John on May 2, 2004 02:54 PMDear All
I think one IIT per state rule shall not be applicable otherwise good institutes like BHU, Trichy will lose out. Yogesh correct me on that, is it a necessry condition for a state not to have an existing IIT?
AK
I have been a stranger in a strange land.
Posted by: Manwaring Jeff on May 3, 2004 02:06 AM