Naidu makes a pitch for IIT at Basar

By T. Lakshmipathi

HYDERABAD, NOV. 20. An Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), tenth in the chain of the institutes of excellence in India, is likely to come up in the backward Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh.

The Chief Minister, Mr.N. Chandrababu Naidu, is bargaining hard with the Centre for the IIT as he argues that the presence of an institution of national importance in the State will create a very positive ambience for the technical education in this part of the country.

The Chief Minister has suggested that the prestigious IIT could be located ideally at Basar, in the vicinity of Gnana Saraswathi Devasthanam (abode of goddess Saraswathi) on the banks of river Godavari.

The State Government has come forward to allocate 1,000 acres of land and also civic amenities for the establishment of the IIT in the backward Adilabad district.

In a detailed letter to the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, Mr. Naidu strongly pleaded the case of the State for the IIT and followed it up with ``personal discussion'' with Mr. Vajpayee and two letters to the Union Minister for Human Resource Development, Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi.

Given the clout that Mr. Naidu wields with the NDA Government, official and industry sources are here confident of the proposal being cleared by the Centre at the earliest.

In the letter to the Prime Minister ( dated May 1, 2001), the Chief Minister cited the upgradation of a ``large number of technical institutions and the regional engineering colleges as deemed universities'' and more particularly the conversion of Roorkee University in Uttaranchal into an IIT only recently.

``Whereas I am aware of the largescale finances required for the project, I am confident that this will be a good investment for promoting the cause of technical education and improving the availability of highly skilled manpower in the region particularly as Andhra Pradesh is fast emerging as a major contributor to the economic growth of the country,'' Mr. Naidu wrote to Mr. Vajpayee.

In the hard pursuit of the project, the Chief Minister, in another letter to Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi on November 13, conveyed his anxiety and concern over the delay in the Centre taking a decision. Apparently, he is not pleased with the response from the Union Minister that the State's suggestion would be considered as and when the Government of India decides to open new IITs. In his recent trip to Delhi also he broached the subject with the Prime Minister and drew encouraging response, sources said.

According to one estimate, the establishment of IIT, with 400 seats to be allotted to students on an all India basis, would require an investment of Rs 500 crores over a period of five years. Besides the land free of cost, the offer of civic amenities by the State Government will substantially reduce the cost of the setting up of the institute, Mr. Naidu contended in the letter to the Prime Minister.

The rapid expansion of technical education in the State in recent years has also resulted in more number of students from Andhra Pradesh gaining admission in the 9 IITs in India. Nearly two lakh students annually vie for the 4000-odd engineering seats in the nine IITs. (Delhi, Kanpur, Roorkee, BHU, Dhanbad, Gauhati, Kharagpur, Chennai and Bombay). From a meagre 35 to 50 students only a few years ago, the intake from Andhra Pradesh last year was 348 students. Over the years, an IIT coaching institute promoted by noted mathematics teacher Mr. C. Ramaiah has earned a name by securing IIT admissions to over 1000 students from Andhra Pradesh.

A lot of exercise has gone into the selection of Basara, which is 210 km away from Hyderabad, as the location for the proposed IIT. The famous shrine here, second of its kind devoted to goddess Saraswathi after the Vaishno Devi temple in Jammu and Kashmir, attracts tourists from near and far.

Since a university has come up in the name of Vaishno Devi at Jammu, another institute of excellence like IIT at the feet of the goddess of learning at Basar, would be ideally suited to promote technical education, Mr. Ramaiah argues.

Of the total nine IIT, five are located in the North, two in the East and only one each in South and Western regions. The argument of the State Government in favour of IIT for Andhra Pradesh was therefore that it would at least partially restore the regional balance in the access to the IITs.

In the event of Centre delaying the clearance of the IIT inordinately, the Chief Minister got a blueprint prepared by Mr. Ramaiah for an institute of advanced learning at Basar, which is proposed to be promoted by industry on the lines of the IIIT in Hyderabad.

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