IIT dream comes true for Bihar, AP

Bihar and Andhra Pradesh have got an edge over Rajasthan. Both states will get IITs of their own from the next academic year, reports Chetan Chauhan.

Updated on: Apr 6, 2008, 18:00:39 IST

Hindustan Times | By Chetan Chauhan, New Delhi

Prefer HTon Google

Share via

Copy link

Bihar and Andhra Pradesh have got an edge over Rajasthan. Both states will get IITs of their own from the next

academic year.

The HRD Ministry has informed Bihar and Andhra Pradesh that admissions to the two new IITs will start in temporary campuses, while the ministry sets up new campuses.

The new campus will be built around 100 kilometres from Patna in Bihar and Isnapur in Medak district of Andhra Pradesh. The campuses will be built in an area of 500-600 acres at a cost of Rs 1,800 crore.

In a letter to the chief secretaries of the two state governments, the HRD ministry has asked for makeshift
campuses so that enrolment of students can start.

“Only a few students for limited disciplines will be admitted in the first year and temporary campuses will be linked to an existing IIT,” a ministry official said.

However, IIT aspirants in Rajasthan might not as fortunate. “No final decision has been taken as to where an IIT will come up in Rajasthan,” a senior ministry official told HT.

The ministry had announced new IITs for Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan in 2006-07.

There is a debate over whether an IIT should come up in the education city of Kota or somewhere near Jaipur. Since the
location of the proposed IIT in Rajasthan has not yet been decided, the Centre has held back its final decision, a ministry official said.

A committee headed by the ministry’s joint secretary Ravi Mathur had visited the proposed sites in Rajasthan but no final decision has been taken.

Human Resource Development minister Arjun Singh had received a number of representations from state politicians to the people for IIT at both the sites.

“In this confusion we are not sure whether IIT admissions can start in Rajasthan from the next academic year,” a ministry official said.

The HRD ministry has also denied that Bihar will be getting an IIM, as stated by officials in the state Chief Minister’s office.

“As of now, only one new IIM at Shillong is coming up,” the official said.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chetan Chauhan
Chetan Chauhan is the National Affairs Editor looking into all aspects of news and features from across India. A Chevening scholar with over three decades of experience in reporting and news management, Chetan has extensively covered all important aspects of the social sector, political economy, environment and climate change nationally and internationally. He did a journalism course at the Reuters Institute of Journalism in Oxford and Digital Media training at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He started as a reporter with The Statesman in 1996 and joined the Hindustan Times in 2000 in the metro bureau covering environment, crime and Delhi politics. He covered hot local news, from the Jessica Lal murder case to the rebellion of Delhi Congress MLAs against then Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, to the replacement of toxic vehicle fuel with cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG) in the national capital. Some of his stories on air pollution became part of the Supreme Court’s landmark MC Mehta versus Government of India case in the National Capital Region (NCR), forcing the government to take corrective measures. As part of the national political bureau since 2004, he covered important central sectors such as environment, education, social justice, labour, rural development, water resources, renewable energy, agriculture, broadcasting and the Planning Commission for more than a decade producing several exclusive and investigative breaking stories. His specialisation is the environment, having covered at least a dozen United Nations global conferences on climate change, biodiversity and wildlife including climate summits in Paris, Copenhagen and Bali. He also covered India’s two five-year plans ---11th and 12th and reported on drafting and execution of right based laws such as Right to Education, Right to Information and rural job guarantee law, MG-NREGA, now being introduced in new format as VG-RAM-G Act. He has in-depth knowledge of social sector issues. He was one of the first to report on tigers vanishing from Sariska and Panna wildlife reserves in 2004 and 2008, respectively, leading to the setting up of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the introduction of stringent penal provisions for poaching. He has written extensively on the rising human-animal conflict in India and the degradation of India’s biodiversity hotspots because of mining and other activities. Since 2004, Chetan has covered Parliament comprehensively and participated in training on the nuanced coverage of Parliament proceedings. He has travelled extensively across India to cover national and provincial elections since 1998, especially in the Hindi heartland states, considered India’s road to power. He writes a regular column for Hindustan Times, Ecostani, on important national politics, economy, Himalayan ecology and environmental issues. His other responsibilities include providing inputs for edits and edit page articles for the publication, apart from managing news flow from across India.Read More

Catch every big hit, every wicket with Crickit, a one stop destination for Live Scores, Match Stats, Infographics & much more. Explore now!

Stay updated with all top Cities including, Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai and more across India. Stay informed on the latest happenings in World News along with Delhi Election 2025 and Delhi Election Result 2025 Live, New Delhi Election Result Live, Kalkaji Election Result Live at Hindustan Times.