Two years after nod,new IITs fail to take off

Two years after the Cabinet gave its approval for setting up eight new IITs in the country,the institutes are facing teething problems like finalising land,readying the master plan or construction of the boundary wall.

Two years after the Cabinet gave its approval for setting up eight new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) in the country,the institutes are facing teething problems like finalising land,readying the master plan or construction of the boundary wall.

For instance,in Rajasthan,land for the permanent campus is yet to be handed over to the IIT while for IIT Bhubaneshwar,only around 517 acre have been given out of the 936 acre required. With regard to the IIT at Mandi in Himachal Pradesh,the case is in progress with animal husbandry land having been handed over to the institute while forest land of 330 acre is yet to be handed.

The ministry has discussed the problems of new IITs with the directors and education secretaries. The states have assured that by December 23,all land will be transferred, said a human resource development ministry official.

Recently,HRD minister Kapil Sibal asked the state governments to release land for the new IITs so that that construction begins before the end of current Plan period.

In some cases,master plans are yet to be readied like for IIT Rajasthan and Ropar. On the other hand,IITs at Mandi and Indore have advertised showing interest for preparing the master plans.

The boundary wall has been made at IIT Ropar and an architect has also been appointed but the master plan is being made and will be finalised soon, said Surendra Prasad,director,IIT Delhi,the mentor institute of IIT Ropar.

Another issue is of the construction of the boundary wall which has not been completed in IIT Rajasthan and Mandi. At IIT Patna,30% of the construction of the boundary wall is complete. The new institutesmost of which are operating from transit campusesalso complain of the fact that architects have not been finalised due to which construction is getting delayed.

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The process is going on and the land has been allotted for the campus. However,the master plan is yet to be readied and we expect that to happen in four to five months. The construction is on and as of now,we are operating from our transit campus, added IIT Ropar director MK Surappa.

He added that likely date of shifting to the permanent campus will be in 2013-14,a delay of two years from the initial date of end 2012.

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