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The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are the premier autonomous public technical and research universities located across India, founded under the leadership of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. [1]
The concept of the IITs originated even before India gained independence in 1947. After the end of the Second World War and before India got independence, Sir Ardeshir Dalal from the Viceroy's Executive Council foresaw that the future prosperity of India would depend not so much on capital as on technology. He, therefore, proposed the setting up of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. To man those laboratories, he persuaded the US government to offer hundreds of doctoral fellowships under the Technology Cooperation Mission (TCM) program. However realizing that such steps can not help in the long run for the development of India after it gains independence, he conceptualized institutes that would train such work forces in the country itself. This is believed to be the first conceptualization of IITs.
Dr. Humayun Kabir encouraged Dr. B. C. Roy, the chief minister of West Bengal to work on Sir Ardeshir's proposal for an IIT. It is also possible that Sir J. C. Ghosh, the then director of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, prompted him to do so. In 1946, Dr. Kabir along with Sir Jogendra Singh of the Viceroy's Executive Council (Department of Education, Health and Agriculture) set up a committee to prepare a proposal, and made Sir Nalini Ranjan Sarkar the chairman. The Sarkar Committee was taking too much time, but Dr. Roy did not wait for the committee to finalise its report and started working on the interim draft itself. The 22 member committee (in its interim draft) recommended the establishment of Higher Technical Institutions in the Eastern, Western, Northern and Southern regions of the country. These institutes were recommended to have a number of secondary institutions affiliated to them. The draft also urged the speedy establishment of all the four institutions with the ones in the East and the West to be started immediately. The committee also felt that such institutes should not only produce undergraduates but should be engaged in research – producing research workers and technical teachers as well. The standard of the graduates was recommended to be at par with those from elite institutions abroad. They felt that the proportion of undergraduates and postgraduate students should be 2:1.
L. S. Chandrakant and Biman Sen in the Education Ministry played significant role in producing a blueprint for a truly autonomous educational institution. Sir J. C. Ghosh (later to be the first director of IIT Kharagpur) ensured liberal provisions of the IIT Act allowing the IITs to work free from interference from the babudom. It is largely because of the IIT Act that IIT directors were granted authority superseding even some parts of the government. On the ground Bengal had the highest concentration of engineering industries, the committee suggested that an IIT may be set up in that state. This encouraged Dr. Roy. to use that fragment of a report in order to persuade Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to push through a special Act to establish an IIT in Bengal.
With the recommendations of the Sarkar committee in view and on the basis of blueprint made by L. S. Chandrakant, Biman Sen, and Sir J. C. Ghosh, the first Indian Institute of Technology was born in May, 1950 at the site of Hijli Detention Camp in Kharagpur, a town in eastern India. Initially the IIT started functioning from 5, Esplanade East, Calcutta (now Kolkata) and shifted to Hijli in September, 1950 when Sir J. C. Ghosh offered the place as a ready made place for the IIT. The present name 'Indian Institute of Technology' was adopted before the formal inauguration of the institute on 18 August 1951, by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. On 15 September 1956, the Parliament of India passed an act known as the Indian Institute of Technology (Kharagpur) Act declaring it as an Institute of National Importance. Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister, in the first convocation address of IIT Kharagpur in 1956, said:
Here in the place of that Hijli Detention Camp stands the fine monument of India, representing India's urges, India's future in the making. This picture seems to me symbolical of the changes that are coming to India." [2]
To counter the criticisms of setting up IIT in West Bengal, the draft report suggested that a second IIT may be located in the Western Region to serve the process industries concentrated there. It also added that a third IIT should be considered for the North to promote the vast irrigation potential of the Gangetic basin. Not willing to leave South out (and to make it politically correct), the draft report hinted that a fourth one might be considered for the South too. However, it offered no specific economic justification for the same.
When the pressure started building up to set up IIT in the West, Jawaharlal Nehru sought Soviet assistance in order to set up the institute in Mumbai. Krishna Menon (the then Defence Minister) and closest to the Russians, got Brig. Bose appointed the first director of IIT Bombay when it got established in Powai in 1958. As a fallout of the prevailing Cold War, the Americans offered to help to set up yet another IIT. The way the Sarcar Committee had suggested, it was established in the North as IIT Kanpur (in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh) in 1959. Dr. Kelkar was the first director of the institute.
At that time, the Germans had run up large trade surpluses, and they were persuaded to support an IIT in the South. The Germans had initially decided on Bangalore as the location, but when they visited Madras, C. Subramaniam, the education minister, took them round the governor's estate with frolicking deer roaming among hundreds of venerable banyan trees, and offered the space across the table. The visiting German team was considerably impressed by it and Madras got the fourth IIT in 1959 itself as IIT Madras.
R. N. Dogra, the chief engineer of Chandigarh, persuaded Prof M. S. Thacker, then member of the planning commission, to set up an IIT at Delhi on the ground that the country was divided into five regions, and all but the North had an IIT each. It was done on the basis of the logic that Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh constituted the Central Region. Hence, officially, Kanpur was located in the Central Region, not the North. This led to the establishment of IIT Delhi in 1961. The Indian Institutes of Technology Act was suitably amended to reflect the addition of new IITs. [3]
After the establishment of IIT in Delhi, there was a long gap in any notable development in the history of IITs. However, in the beginning of the 1990s, widespread student agitations in Assam led to Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi promising another IIT in Assam. Rajiv Gandhi agreed to it on the spot considering it a minor request of IIT although eventually it cost over Rs 1,500 crore. The IIT Guwahati campus was established in 1994 and started functioning in 1995. [4] In the beginning of the 21st century, Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi (the Education Minister of India) made University of Roorkee into an IIT, making IIT Roorkee the newest IIT but the oldest institution amongst the seven in 2001.
Establishment of the eight new IITs began with decision of the cabinet, which was announced by the Minister of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Arjun Singh, on 28 March 2008 that the government planned to establish more IITs, Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and Central Universities across the country. [5] [6] Six IITs at Bhubaneswar, Gandhinagar, Hyderabad, Jodhpur, Patna and Ropar began functional from 2008 while other two at Indore and Mandi commenced their sessions from 2009. [7]
In order to establish more IITs in India, MHRD constituted Professor S K Joshi Committee in 2003 and Anand Krishnan Committee in 2005 to recommend names of existing institutes that had the potential of being converted into an IIT institute, both of which had recommended for the conversion of the IT-BHU into an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT). On 17 July 2008, the government of India issued a press release granting "In principle approval for taking over the Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University – a constituent unit of the Banaras Hindu University, a Central University, its conversion into an Indian Institute of Technology and integrating it with the IIT system in the country." After the approval of BHU Executive Council, a bill was introduced on 4 August 2010, a bill seeking to amend the Institutes of Technology Act 1961 to declare IT-BHU as an IIT. The Bill was eventually signed by the president of India on 20 June 2012 and notified in the gazette on 21 June. The Central Government released a notification on 29 June that as per the Act, the transformation process was complete and the erstwhile IT-BHU was renamed as Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi. [8]
The proposal for conversion of ISM Dhanbad into an IIT had been strongly recommended in 1994 by a Government Committee, headed by Prof. S. Sampath (former Director of IIT Kanpur and IIT Madras). However, no action was taken by the Government over the proposal.
Several years later, in 2007–08, several new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) like IIT Patna were set up without even having a campus, while ISM was not converted into IIT. This was despite the fact that since 1997, ISM was taking in IIT-JEE qualified students (along with the 7 older IIT's and IT-BHU). After the conversion of IT-BHU to IIT-BHU in June 2012, ISM was the only non-IIT institute which admitted IIT-JEE (now called JEE-Advanced) qualified students to its various undergraduate and dual degree programmes. Once admitted into ISM or an IIT through IIT-JEE (JEE-Advanced) exam, a student was not permitted to appear in the exam again, and hence could not take admission in an IIT next year (as per rules of the JEE-Advanced exam). In this respect, Govt of India treated ISM at par with IITs.
In 2009, ISM got the approval of its finance committee, executive board and general council, proposing its conversion to an IIT. This was forwarded to Ministry of Human Resource and Development (MHRD), Government of India in early 2010. This was followed by a detailed project report on the conversion prepared by EdCIL (a public sector enterprise), on the directions of the HRD Ministry. The ISM Teachers Association and ISM Alumni Association passed resolutions in 2010–11, favoring this conversion. In September 2011, a resolution was passed by the Government of Jharkhand, recommending to the Government of India to convert ISM to an IIT soon.
On 7 May 2012, the director of ISM gave a detailed presentation highlighting the various aspects of institute and the need for its conversion to an IIT, at the Yojana Bhawan, Planning commission. The meeting was chaired by Narendra Jadhav, Member of MHRD. The conclusion that came to be was inclusion of the conversion in the 12th Five Year Plan (2012–17).
In June 2012, a planning commission panel, on a reference to it from the Union Cabinet, favoured that this conversion be done, during the 12th Five Year Plan (2012–2017) and in such a possible way that ISM's core competency in mining and geology is maintained.
The proposal to convert ISM to IIT became a part of the 12th Five Year Plan after its passage by the prime minister headed National Development Council or NDC, on 27 December 2012. ISM was the only institute of India selected by NDC to be converted into an IIT in the 12th Five Year Plan.
Finally, the Union Finance Minister Mr. Arun Jaitley, during his budget speech in Parliament on 28 February 2015, had proposed to upgrade ISM Dhanbad into an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT). On 25 May 2016, the Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Modi approved that a bill be introduced in Parliament for converting ISM Dhanbad into an IIT.
On 25 May 2016, the Union Cabinet passed a draft bill proposed to set up 6 new IITs and convert ISM Dhanbad into a full-fledged IIT. On 19 July 2016 the said Bill, named The Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2016 was introduced in the Lok Sabha. On 25 July 2016, the mentioned Bill was passed without any opposition by the Lok Sabha.. [9] On 2 August 2016, the IIT Amendment Bill 2016 (for conversion of ISM Dhanbad to IIT (ISM) Dhanbad and including setting up of 6 new IITs at Bhilai, Dharwad, Goa, Jammu, Palakkad and Tirupati) was passed by Rajya Sabha. [10]
The Bill was eventually signed by the president of India on 10 August and notified in the Gazette of India [11] and ISM Dhanbad was renamed as Indian Institute of Technology (ISM), Dhanbad.
Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur is a public institute of technology and research university an autonomous institute, established by the Government of India in Kharagpur, West Bengal. Established in 1951, the institute is the first of the IITs to be established and is recognised as an Institute of National Importance. In 2019 it was awarded the status of Institute of Eminence by the Government of India. IIT Kharagpur is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in India.
Hijli Detention Camp, is a former detention camp operated during the period of British colonial rule in India. Located in Hijli, beside Kharagpur, in the district of Midnapore West, West Bengal, India, it played a significant role in the Indian independence movement of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Kharagpur is a semi-planned urban agglomeration and a major industrial city in the Paschim Medinipur district of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of the Kharagpur subdivision and the largest city of the district. It is located 120 km west of Kolkata. Kharagpur holds the oldest and biggest Indian Institute of Technology namely IIT Kharagpur. It has one of the largest railway workshops in India. Kharagpur Junction contains the fourth longest railway platform in the world and is the headquarter of the Kharagpur Division of the South Eastern Railways.
Indian Institute of Technology Dhanbad is a public technical university located in Dhanbad, India. IIT Dhanbad is an Institute of National Importance, and is ranked among the premier engineering institutions of India.
Indian Institute of Technology Varanasi(IIT-BHU) is a public technical university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. Founded in 1919 as the Banaras Engineering College, it became the Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University in 1968. It was later designated an Indian Institute of Technology in 2012. IIT (BHU) Varanasi has 16 departments, 3 inter-disciplinary schools and 1 Humanities & Social Sciences Section. It is located inside the Banaras Hindu University Campus.
The Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) is an engineering entrance assessment conducted for admission to various engineering colleges in India. It is constituted by two different examinations: the JEE-Main and the JEE-Advanced.
The Hijli Kingdom existed between 1687 and 1886 in the eastern part of India. Initially Hijli was a small island village on the banks of the Rasulpur River as it flows to the Bay of Bengal. It developed into a port town in 1687. Slowly, it converted into a province or kingdom covering parts of Bengal and Orissa. The Contai basin also belonged to this kingdom. Mansingh is believed to be the founder King of Hijli. It had important towns like Tamluk or Tamralipta, Panskura, along with Keleghai and Haldi rivers on the north, the south and east sides bounded by the Bay of Bengal and Kharagpur, Keshiary, Dantan and Jaleswar on the west. The capital of Hijli was in Bahiri up to 1628 and afterwards it was shifted to Hijli. This kingdom was ruled for some years by Taj Khan, a disciple of Guru Peer Mackdram Sha Chisti. It was also ruled sequentially by Kushan, Gupta, Gauda, Pala and Sena dynasties and also by Mughals. It is known that Hijli had excellent business and trade centers during the reign of Hindu Kings and continued during the Mughal dynasty.
The Nehru Museum of Science and Technology is a museum in Kharagpur, West Bengal, India. It was founded in 1990 at the Hijli Detention camp building, later the IIT-Kharagpur Heritage Building, which is now named as Hijli Saheed Bhavan. The imposing building, bearing resemblance to the Byzantine style of architecture, was used by the British rulers of India to detain the freedom fighters during the 1930s.
In India, Institute of National Importance (INI) is a status that may be conferred on a premier public higher education institution by an act of Parliament of India for such institution which "serves as a pivotal player in developing highly skilled personnel within the specified region of the country/state". Institutes of National Importance receive special recognition, higher autonomy, and funding from the Government of India.
Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur is a public technical university located in Jodhpur in the state of Rajasthan in India. It is one of the eight new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) established by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India under The Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Act, 2011 which declares these eight IITs as well as the conversion of the Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University to IIT. The Act was passed in the Lok Sabha on 24 March 2011 and by the Rajya Sabha on 30 April 2012.
Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar is a public technical university established by the government of India in 2008, located at Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India.
The state of Uttar Pradesh had a small tradition of learning, although it had remained mostly confined to the elite class and the religious establishment.
The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are a network of engineering and technology institutions in India. Established in 1950, they are renowned for their academic excellence. They are under the ownership of the Ministry of Education of the Government of India and are governed by the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961. The Act declares them as Institutes of National Importance and lays down their powers, duties, and framework for governance as the country's premier institutions in the field of technology. The act currently lists twenty-three IITs. Each IIT has autonomy and is linked to others through a common council called the IIT Council, which oversees their administration. The Minister of Education of India is the ex officio chairperson of the IIT Council.
India has the largest numbers of engineers as well as the largest number of engineering education institutes and infrastructure in the world. As of 2021, India annually produces 1.5 million engineering graduates. India's technical education infrastructure includes 2500 engineering colleges, 1400 polytechnics and 200 schools of planning and architecture.
Rajeev Kumar is now at Jawaharlal Nehru University. He is known for his fight with IITs to fix the eligibility criteria of admission through the JEE. A "protracted legal struggle" over years with several tiers of the IIT administration, led to in 2010, the Delhi High Court ordering the IITs to reveal such information. Since 2012, every candidate gets a carbon copy of their paper, and the various cutoffs are announced. Due to this activism he was suspended, then compulsorily retired by IIT Kharagpur in 2014; he was reinstated in 2017 by the President Pranab Mukherjee.
Indian Institute of Information Technology, Kalyani is an Indian Institute of Information Technology located at Kalyani, West Bengal and is one of the 31 IIIT'S set up by government of India. The institute was set up by the Government of India Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of West Bengal and industry partners using the not-for-profit Public Private Partnership (N-PPP) model, at a ratio of 50:35:15 respectively between three parties. Admission to IIIT Kalyani is done on the basis of the marks obtained in JEE Main. IIIT Kalyani has been attributed the status of Institute of National Importance (INI) by the cabinet in March 2017 under the IIIT Act. Virendra Kumar Tewari was the Mentor-Director for IIIT, Kalyani and IIT Kharagpur is the mentor institute.
National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) is a ranking methodology adopted by the Ministry of Education, Government of India, to rank institutions of higher education in India. The framework was approved by the former Ministry of Human Resource Development and launched by the Minister on 29 September 2015.
Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy (IIPE), is an institute of national importance established in 2016, in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy (IIPE), Visakhapatnam, a domain-specific Institute at par with IITs and IIMs, is established by the Government of India under the aegis of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) in the year 2016. The Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy Act, 2017 enacted by the Parliament and declared the Institute as an 'Institution of National Importance'.
The Institutes of Technology Act, 1961 is a legislation in India giving legal status, including degree granting powers, to the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). It was notified in the gazette as Act number 59 of 1961 on 20 December 1961 and came into effect on 1 April 1962. The Act also declares these institutes as Institutes of National Importance.
The Department of Management Studies, IIT (ISM) Dhanbad is the business school of Indian Institute of Technology, Dhanbad which was established in 1977. The Department admits students on the basis of Common Admission Test (CAT). Recently it fetched 29th position in NIRF 2020 rankings introduced by the MHRD.
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