hi yogesh,what happen to new IITs, when is the committe form by govt. is going to give decission
is this process is undergoing or not,since the government of center has been change from BJP to CONGRESS,will the promise made by PM vajpayee will
be met to have 5 more IITs

Dear friends:

Sub: IIT update:

It is a long time since we had last discussed the issue. Meanwhile, we have received e-mails requesting us to clarify the situation.

We all know that much awaited IIT announcement fell through because of election results. It is a matter of great relief that our institute was figured in the final list of five institutes to be converted to IITs. Other institutes were more or less the same as discussed on our website. This was achieved through great efforts made by our students, alumni, faculty and administration officials. One major contributing factor was reportedly favourable assessment made by World Bank, which put our institute at second place, just behind an IIT under research category.

The agenda of current UPA govt. is not known. Although its focus is on primary education, it is also interested in improving higher education. The current HRD minister, honourable Arjun Singh is a very dynamic minister (for example, he has planned a new IIM for Gauhati). The new HRD ministry has formed a 106 member strong Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE). (The Economic Times dated July 5th.
www.economictimes.com/articleshow/765017.cms

We are still working on IT to IIT project. With the change in govt., it has been delayed and the IIT committee formed under the previous govt. does not have a proper setup to submit their report. The report is in its final stages We will have to wait for a couple of months to know the present govt.’s interest in setting up more IITs. Once it is clearly known, then we will take up issue again.

It will be some time before we make good contacts with the present government setup. We need volunteers, who can spare time & energy for this noble cause. Anyone having links with high-level IAS officers, MLAs/MPs, if possible MHRD itself can contribute to the cause. We are also interested in someone having good contacts in political circles in Delhi & Lucknow. Please respond to Arvind Gupta, EcE-1992 (who provided vital information above) at arvind@e-enable.com.

Thanking you,

Yogesh Upadhyaya
Chemical Engineering1977

Here is one more IIT update:

From The Hindu Dated:08/07/2004
URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/07/08/stories/2004070803600300.htm

BANGALORE JULY 7.
The Union Government has received nine proposals from State governments for setting up new Indian institutes of technology (IITs) or upgrading existing IITs. This followed the announcement made on August 15, 2003 by the then Prime Minister, A.B. Vajpayee, that five new IITs would be set up by upgrading academic institutions. The Centre had received proposals from Andhra Pradesh (for setting up an IIT at Basara, Adilabad district and upgrading Osmania University Engineering College), Bihar, Chandigarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Rajasthan (for setting up of new IITs), Karnataka (for upgrading the National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal, to IIT status and setting up of a new IIT in Dharwad), Kerala (for upgrading the College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram) and Orissa (for upgrading the University College of Engineering, Burla). The proposals are under consideration of an expert committee set up by the Union Government, according to a press note issued by the Press Information Bureau.

Yogesh Upadhyaya
Chemical Engineering 1977

In the recent news regarding the proposals from nine states to form new IITs, the list doesn't include UP. Why Up government is not taking steps when we have a strong case to upgrade our institute to IIT. It seems that the decision will be made based on political issues rather than merit. If it would have been based on merit our institute should be on top among the potential candidates.

Dear Anurag:

For a list of state proposals for IITs in a clear table format, view the following link:

http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=2288

Since ours is a central university, we need not apply through state govt., hence our institute is not shown in the list. However, our application is still with HRD ministry, and our volunteers (students/alumni/faculty) are in constant touch with high level govt. officials. We all agree that support from state govt. will be useful. Because of pressure from business houses and state govts, more IITs are planned now (7, 9 or more).

Yogesh Upadhyaya
Chemical Engineering 1977

Yogesh's response definitely makes one optimistic about our cause. However I was just curious as to whether there has been an official pitch on behalf of IT-BHU for it's "upgradation" to IIT? The lack of any State Govt help can only be partially compensated if IT-BHU does vigorous lobbying on it's own at the official level rather than just relying on the Volunteers's hard work & sincerity.

yogesh,
how is it that you know that it bhu is in the final list.if you know the five institutes does punjab engineering college, chandigarh appear in the list??

Krishna Murty:

Yes, IT administration is heavily involved in our efforts. It has forwarded petition to central govt. and university officials are also backing our case. Apart from our volunteers, IT officials are also maintaining high level contacts with HRD ministry. Without everybody's help, we can not succeed.

Yogesh Upadhyaya
Chemical Engineering 1977

Hello Yogesh

Thanks for your reply. After reading discussions at ITBHU.org, things look positive. Recently I read a news at following link: www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEH20040817140740
This news talks about IIT at Singapore but present govt doesn't talk about new IITs in India. It appears that this will take a long time.

Anurag

Is their any chance of the NITs becoming IITs?

Anurag:

Thanks for your web link. However, the institute coming up in Singapore will be named as Singapore Technical School and not as an IIT. This is because under GATS treaty, India will have to allow foreign institutes to set up campus here. This will lead to competition and dilution of brand IIT. The following excerpt is taken from The Economic Times dated August 19 (www.ecomomictimes.com/articleshow/819797.cms)

“However, this would open the IITs to challenges that come with trading in education services. For starters, India would have to be opened up for foreign engineering institutions.

This could mean competition from institutes of similar standing, say, the MIT. This raises fears of poaching of faculty and loss of students, leading to brand dilution. The fact remains that IITs have been cost-effective in a protected environment. A situation that would change with the General Agreement on Trade in Services (Gats) kicking in next year.”

The IITs board, which was eager to set up IITs abroad few years ago, is hesitating now because of the competition it will face in India.

Central govt. has received applications from state govts. for setting up IITs. It is not known when the issue will be taken up.

Yogesh Upadhyaya
Chemical Engineering 1977

Ashutosh:

Yes. As mentioned elsewhere in this column, Central govt. has received applications for converting some of the NITs from state govts. (Few months ago, no NITs were considered. Now the govt. is open for NITs & even brand new IITs).

Yogesh Upadhyaya
Chemical Engineering 1977

Any new update on IIT conversion???

Rajeev:

Itbhu is still in the race. We will(like other institutes) forward a fresh proposal to HRD ministry, as asked for. Other than that, there is no activity at present.

For the time being, government has pushed the issue to the back-burner. There will not be any decision at least for the next few months. This is because the govt. is preoccupied with primary education and other important issues. Moreover, the present UPA govt. needs to build-up a consensus among all states applying for IITs, before any decision can be announced.

Yogesh Upadhyaya
Chemical Engineering 1977

Hi Yogesh,

Thanks a lot.
At least now we have a ray of hope at the other
side of tunnel. I thought this issue was dead,
But now i am sure sooner or later we will get
what we deserve (IIT status).
This is really great that Aluminies like you
are puting lots of effort inspite of the
government's frustrating and hopelessly
slow process.

Thanks again for the Update.

Regards
Rajeev Misra
Mining - 98

About the IIT expansion, this is what I found at www.oultookindia.com --- It says the institute selection report should be out this monnth.

"Former prime minister A.B. Vajpayee had made a commitment to upgrade five technical institutes to the IIT-level in August 2003. A committee, headed by Prof S. K. Joshi of IIT Roorkee, was set up to assess various institutions and suggest which ones can come up to the IIT standard.

This report is awaited by this month-end. But the present view in the HRD ministry is to go "very slow" on any expansion plans for IITs. "The proposal with Singapore has been finalised after great deliberation. We do not want IITs to lose their prestige by huge expansions. First, we should concentrate on preserving the prestige, tackle problems like the lack of teaching faculty and then think about expanding the brand," says an official."

How embarrasing is this ...?
God ... BHU can produce 'netas' but none of us can get IT-BHU on IIT list (what are the director's doing?). DCE Delhi, NIT Trichi are on this list and we are not ... even though we went thru same JEE test - Following is the link for the DataQuest ranking last year of the top IT schools in India....
http://dataquest.ciol.com/content/search/showarticle.asp?artid=57745

Sub: IT gets a new Director:

Please check out the news on institute's website www.itbhu.ac.in. Prof. S.N. Upadhyay takes over as Director of IT-BHU from Feb. 1st. He was a professor of Chemical Engineering dept. of our institute. As I know him, he is very well mannered & knowledgeable professor who can be approached for any discussion.

It is nice to have a person like him as our director. Please congratulate and welcome him for this new position!

Yogesh Upadhyaya
Chemical 1977

Glad to know that we have a very esteemed individual as our new IT director. Our best wishes are with Dr. Upadhyaya. Yogesh as you mention that you do know the new IT director personally, have you ever discussed with him the prospects of IT-BHU's conversion to IIT? It would be interesting to know what the latest chances are for our alma mater to become an IIT.

Has IT abandoned the IIT V project.We r too cool and only make noise when India Today survey does not rank IT BHU in top ten.What has happened to the petition online.The present president is a scientist and worth to write him.Shouldn,t we email him?

The Biggest Joke of the Year - The S.K. Joshi Report

Times of India Report

NEW DELHI: The S K Joshi committee, set up at the behest of the then PM, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, to study a proposal to start five new IITs in 2003s, has submitted its report.

The committee has shortlisted seven technical institutes that can be upgraded to IITs (see table).

In the one and a half years since Vajapayee made the promise, the ministry has been flooded with queries from the state governments and questions in Parliament on which institutes would be the lucky ones.

The NDA government would have probably jumped at the recommendations and may have initiated action soon but the new dispensation is not too sure.

Although the ministry is yet to discuss the report's recommendations, the issue of whether we need more IITs has already triggered a debate.

Wouldn't half a dozen more IITs dilute the brand equity of the existing ones? Besides the big five, two new IITs were set up at Guwahati and Roorkee by the NDA government.

Why can't we upgrade some better performing state engineering colleges into National Institutes of Technology (NITs) and leave the IITs alone?

The ministry officials are posing some serious questions. "The IIT system of selection does not give any advantage to state students. So there is no need to to have an IIT in every other state. Setting up an IIT goes beyond a building and a faculty.

It requires support from the industry. We have to see these factors before deciding," said an official.

The S K Joshi committee has, however, looked at academic standing and infrastructure to shortlist the institutes.

Parameters like faculty, research papers published in a year, courses, student strength and physical infrastructure have been taken into account.

But the committee did not consider the 17 regional engineering colleges that were upgraded to NITs during Murli Manohar Joshi's stint as HRD minister with the logic that they already had the same governance structure and deemed university status as IITs

So hold your breath

The New IITs are....

•Bengal Engineering College (Howrah)

•Jadavpur University's engineering and technical department

•Benaras Hindu University's Institute of Technology

•Zakir Hussain College of Engineering, Aligarh

•Andhra University College of Engineering

•Osmania College of Engineering (Osmania University College of Technology)

•Cochin University of Science and Technology

This really must be a joke!

Look at the places the new IITs would be situtated-

Uttar Pradesh -2 ( + IIT Kanpur)
Andhra Pradesh -2
West Bengal - 2 (+ IIT Kharagpur)
Kerala -1

Also, apart from IT BHU, The faculty and standards of most of these institutions are much below that of the IITs and the NITs.

The status of the tag 'IIT' would fall below that of the NITs. Moreover all of of these institutions (except IT BHU) have reservations (state, minority etc), and these people would go any lengths to keep it in place.

Maybe they will introduce quotas in the IITs as well!

It is quite obvious that even Murali Manohar Joshi would laugh away this report.

Yogesh Sir,

It was exactly as you said- No NITs, but isn't it unlikely that all these colleges will be upgraded as there is a preponderance of institutes from WB, UP, and Andhra?

I think the way the report has been given will impede the chances of IT BHU ( The only deserving candidate in the list) being declared an IIT.

Will this report be implemented?

- A.S.K.

Hi Ashutosh:

Please read the latest news article in Times of India:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1042282.cms

It states” It is unlikely that all the seven shortlisted colleges would be upgraded….”
In my personal opinion, only 2 or 3 IITs will come up. Please wait for the official announcement by PM in parliament, perhaps in May 2005.

With regards,

Yogesh Upadhyaya
Chemical 1977

Do read the recent article in www.rediff.com

********

Fate of 7 'new IIT's in balance

March 22, 2005 16:55 IST

The government was considering the report of the S K Joshi Committee to constitute an expert group to assess the suitability of transforming seven institutions to the level of Indian Institutes of Technology the Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday.

In a written reply to a question, Minister of State for Human Resource Development M A A Fatmi said the committee had shortlisted seven institutions possessing best potential among the engineering and technical colleges in the country for upgradation to the level of IITs.

The shortlisted institutions are the Institute of Technology BHU Varanasi, University College of Engineering combined with University College of Technology, both belonging to the Osmania University, Bengal Engineering College Howrah, Jadavpur University's engineering and technology departments, Zakir Hussain College of Engineering and Technology, AMU Aligarh, Andhra University College of Engineering and Cochin University of Science and Technology, he said.

However, these institutions fell far below the level of the existing IITs in all criteria used for shortlisting. As such it would not be correct to position these colleges straight away alongside the IITs, the committee noted, he said.

The committee suggested that the HRD ministry could form a small expert group to assess the suitability of these institutions and also to assess first hand, the problems of transformation of these institutions in the event of the government deciding to upgrade them, Fatmi informed the House.

******

Rohit Prasad

Hi Nitin, Rohit and Ankur:

1) Please also read an article in Indian Express about politics behind IIT

http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=67076

2) The news are changing everyday. Even Rediff.com had to correct my article just before putting it online: 'The making of new IITs'

http://www.rediff.com/money/2005/mar/23iit.htm

Thanks,

Yogesh Upadhyaya
Chemical 1977

Kerala wins in IIT politics:
URL: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1063789.cms

TEXT:
Centre ready to sanction IIT in Kerala
PTI[ MONDAY, MARCH 28, 2005 12:34:14 PM]

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Centre has agreed to favourably consider Kerala government's request for establishing an Indian Institute of Technology centre in the state, Chief Minister, Oommen Chandy told the assembly on Monday.

Replying to a calling attention for taking steps for the establishment of an IIT and a Technical University here, he said project report for IIT and Technical University would be ready soon.

Centre was considering either to upgrade an existing Education Institution to the status of IIT or establish a new campus, he said. Kerala government had already informed the Centre that it would make available the required land and also bear half of the establishment cost, he said.

I found the following article (sent by Bharat Barot to our yahoogroups) interesting:

http://www.hinduonnet.com/edu/2005/04/04/stories/2005040400141000.htm

The more interesting fact was that the author, S. S. Vasan is not connected with IT-BHU! He is a Rhodes Scholar and his bio-data can be found on:

http://www.eng.ox.ac.uk/chemeng/membrane/vasan.htm

His article is based on a recent statement by HRD ministry that all of the seven chosen colleges are below the quality required for an IIT. However, no decision about IIT is taken by the govt. yet. We should not jump into conclusion and instead wait for an official announcement.

According to the article, IT-BHU came third in the research category (in a 1995 study as reported by Dr. G. Prathap in Current Science magazine), just behind IISc, Bangalore and IIT, Bombay.

With regards,

Yogesh Upadhyaya
Chem 1977

Bengal to have two new IITs
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1088445.cms

Sub:IT BHU ranked fifth in IDC-Dataquest-Nasscom survey.

The following article's there in Economic Times-
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/summary/1118349.cms

and http://www.dqindia.com/ (if u have a paid subscription of dataquest)

Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur has been ranked the number one engineering college in the country on the basis of placement record, intellectual capital, infrastructure and industry interface, according to an IDC-Dataquest-Nasscom survey. IIT-Kanpur is followed by its counterparts in Mumbai, Chennai and Kharagpur among the top ten in the list of 116 engineering colleges across the country that took part in the survey, IDC said in a release. Though the top ranks are devoid of any major surprises, there are a few new institutes among the top ten. Banaras Hindu University is ranked five, followed by IIT Guwahati at sixth place. National Institute of Technolgy, Warangal, and NIT, Trichy were at numbers seven and eight. Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technolgy, Patiala, and Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology, Delhi, completed the list. The top ten list does not include heavyweights like BITS, Pilani and Delhi College of Engineering, IDC said, adding IIT-Delhi did not take part in the survey. The survey took into account both objective assessment of the institutes comprising the four above parameters and perception of recruiters, the research firm said. Placements in these colleges have seen a general upturn this year with the average salary increase of 10-15 percent over last year. IT majors Infosys, Wipro and TCS are top recruiters and in some colleges they have recruited over 100 students, IDC said.

regards,
Navin Keswani civ02

hi i have heard that after the meeting of 6(out of 7 only 6 were present) proposed colleges govt. has decided to raise their annual grants by 20 crores and give them one time rs.100crore.so cheers for it bhu

Another good article by Mr. Yogesh Upadhyaya:
Title: India's top 20 engineering colleges
URL: http://us.rediff.com/money/2005/jun/28spec.htm
Regards,
Nitin Mohan
EcE-99

I think as a back up, we should have a legal case filed that IT-BHU deserves a status of an IIT.

People with legal background can probably comment more but I think we have a strong case here....We qualify same examination but do not get same value and status as that of an IIT... and there could be many more points we can think.....

We should also get stay on opening new IITs on the ground that India has a limited requirement of IITs and govt. can not plan opening new institutes before resolving our case.

We should not forget that we are not in Washington DC for God sake. Lobbying to some extent help however we should not forget that these politicians are politicians first and would only take the decisions favorable to their political game plan and on top of that there are numerous factors playing into these kinds of decisions... those can change the situation at the last minute.

Filing a case is going to be more direct and aggressive approach.

I am resending this message to have a correct subject.

------------------------------

I think as a back up, we should have a legal case filed that IT-BHU deserves a status of an IIT.

People with legal background can probably comment more but I think we have a strong case here....We qualify same examination but do not get same value and status as that of an IIT... and there could be many more points we can think.....

We should also get stay on opening new IITs on the ground that India has a limited requirement of IITs and govt. can not plan opening new institutes before resolving our case.

We should not forget that we are not in Washington DC for God sake. Lobbying to some extent help however these politicians are politicians first and would only take the decisions favorable to their political game plan and on top of that there are numerous factors playing into these kinds of decisions... those can change the situation at the last minute.

Filing a case is going to be more direct and aggressive approach.

Hi guys...

A new article in Eco Times regarding IIT status...

do read it...

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1160421.cms

Rohit Prasad

please inform about the latest development regarding iit status of itbhu.

Hi Abhinav and Rohit:

Our institute is still on the list of potential IITs. It will take some time before it becomes an IIT. This time, govt. approach is different. It wants each college to come up to IIT quality before granting the status. The colleges will be progressively converted into IITs depending upon the progress achieved. Nothing is certain, but it is expected that about 4 to 5 colleges will be converted into IITs between mid-2007 to mid-2010.

The govt. wants to see the progress (in faculty quality such as % of PhDs, student/faculty ration of 1:10, various dept. in QIP program, improvement in student quality, lab and infrastructure improvement etc.). Funding is not a problem, as govt. is willing to give one-time grant of Rs. 100 crore or more. Govt. has asked colleges to submit their 5 yr and 10 yr vision (or plan for improvement), which will be submitted by August end. Most of the colleges are asking for Rs. 150 to Rs. 350 crore fund for infrastructure improvement. Govt. will release this money in instalments over next 3-5 years after reviewing progress. An official from HRD ministry will visit each college towards the year end to witness the progress and discuss any bottleneck.

Except IT-BHU, all other colleges take students through stae level or nominally national level exam. From next year, some of these colleges will take 50% of intake through IIT-JEE or AIEEE.

Regards,

Yogesh Upadhyaya
chem77

SIR,
PLEASE TELL WHETHER THERE IS ANY PROGRAMME FOR THE IMPROVISATION OF THE ROOMS OF THE HOSTELS & CLASSROOM.WHEN I VISITED THE ITBHU I FOUND THAT THE CONDITION OF THE ROOMS OF THE HOSTELS & CLASSROOMS WAS NOT GOOD LIKE THE OTHER IITs.PLEASE LOOK INTO THE MATTER & TRY YOUR LEVEL BEST.I ALSO HEARD THAT BHU IS GOING TO GET A HUGE AMOUNT OF FUND & BHU VC SAYS THAT HE WILL TRY TO MAKE BHU AS IIT OR MORE.WHAT IS THE CURRENT STATUS REGARDING MAKING OF ITBHU AS IIT.

Dear Vijay:

The administration is aware of the situation of hostels. Like all seven colleges trying for IIT status, we are also expectng special govt. funding of Rs. 200-300 crores. part of that money will be used to improve infrastructure, including hostels.

Regarding IIT process, it is an ongoing process. Whenever we receive any info about HRD meeting, etc, we publish it in The Chronicle. Please watch out "On the IIT front" section of The Chronicle.

With regards,

Yogesh Upadhyaya
chemical 1977

I have seen a posting on Ranking of ITBHU ahead of IIt Gauhati. Can anyone tell me based on JEE ranking how student prefer ITBHU compared to Gauhati and Roorkee?

By the way I have been in USA for a long time. It is true that IIT brand name helps but 99% is individual effort. I have seen some brilliant professors who are graduate of Jadavpur University and universities in Andhra/Tamil Nadu, successful business people from BITS Pillani and some great professional from VJTI.

Hi everyone:

My article "The march of the new IITs" is posted today on rediff.com:

http://us.rediff.com/money/2005/aug/18guest.htm

Thanks,

Yogesh Upadhyaya
chem77

Following appeared as an edit in Hindu.

Sub :JEE needs wider reach

The Indian Institutes of Technology have a hard-won reputation for conducting what is, arguably, the most demanding undergraduate entrance exam in the world. Reforms to the IIT Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) to make it more accessible to all sections of students naturally evoke wide interest. Less than three per cent of applicants gain entry into the IIT system, placing it higher than American Ivy League universities such as Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where the success rate ranges from 10 to 16 per cent. In the current year, about 4,000 candidates among nearly 200,000 who took the JEE screening test were accepted. The integrity of the selection process as well as the quality of student input into the IIT B.Tech system is internationally acknowledged. However, the limited success of some categories of applicants — rural and socially disadvantaged groups, especially Dalits, and women — continues to pose a challenge to the framers of admission policy. The extreme odds against candidates succeeding in the JEE have spawned a private coaching industry that puts a tremendous burden on students and may also have the effect of widening the divide. Against this background, the IIT Council's decision to make JEE 2006 an objective-type test of comprehension and analytical abilities does mark a bold initiative. The proposed changes must be made comprehensible to the teachers of mathematics, physics, and chemistry in the mainstream school system. This is particularly important as the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD) wants to give greater importance to the school-leaving examination.

The intense competition for B.Tech seats in the seven IIT campuses speaks well of the huge demand for quality education in technology and, to an extent, science. More aspirants can get entry if the MHRD quickly upgrades the seven institutions it has identified (two each in Hyderabad and West Bengal, the Aligarh Muslim University, IT-BHU, Varanasi, and Cochin University) to meet IIT benchmarks. It is reckoned that, as a rule each year, some 15,000 JEE-takers will qualify for admission to quality institutions in the United States and the United Kingdom — yet they cannot make it to an IIT. A serious effort must be made to involve leading business houses with a sense of social responsibility in the project of upgrading more institutions to IIT standards. JEE reform must go hand in hand with the reform of teaching methods in schools. The Central Board of Secondary Education, which conducts the All India Engineering Entrance Examination, recognised the need to improve its curriculum early enough. In consequence, the success rate of CBSE students in the JEE tends to be high. The apprehension is that some other measures announced by the IIT Council, such as restricting the number of test attempts to two and prescribing a minimum eligibility score of 60 per cent (55 per cent for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe candidates), will have the effect of narrow-casting, rather than broadening access to, the JEE. If this is correct, such restrictions must be given up. With its estimable track record and credibility, the JEE could well become the test of choice for admission to all technology institutions.

regards,
Navin Keswani
civil 2k2