Southern States - Tamil Nadu

Tiruchi REC out of NIT list

By V. Ganapathy

TIRUCHI MAY 31 . The Union Ministry of Human Resource Development has decided to upgrade 15 out of 17 Regional Engineering Colleges as National Institutes of Technology. The RECs in Tiruchi and Durgapur have been left out.

Educationists and college authorities here are disappointed at non-inclusion of the college in Tiruchi, which has enjoyed a pride of place among RECs and in technical education in this part of the country.

What has shocked everybody is the reason attributed to the Ministry's decision excluding the Tiruchi and Durgapur RECs. According to academic sources here, the Tamil Nadu and West Bengal Governments did not accept its condition that the Chairman of the Board Governors of the NIT should be a non-political person. While all 15 RECs agreed to the suggestion, these two States, it is said, insisted on the Education Minister of the States being Chairman.

The REC here was established 37 years ago, and offers 11 undergraduate programmes, 22 postgraduate courses in science, engineering, and management, besides Ph.D. programmes, enjoying autonomous status. It has been adjudged among the three topmost RECs, by both the Union Ministry, the State Government, and also in independent assessments. While the REC is getting about Rs.8.5. crores each from the Union Government and the State Government per annum, under the latest policy of the Centre to improve teaching both at the IIT and the NIT levels, each NIT would be given about Rs.50 crores annually for improving infrastructure, and for collaborative and research programmes.

The MHRD also said in future the NITs would be allowed to offer B.Tech. in all subjects.

Pushpavanam, secretary, Consumer Protection Council of Tamil Nadu, and K. Ayoob, president, Tiruchi Intellectual Forum have urged the Chief Minister to take up the matter with the Union Government and fall in line with the other States in the matter of NIT board charimanships. If the Tiruchi REC was left out of the NIT ambit, its future development would be affected and a grave disservice to the people of the State, and students in particular would be done, Mr.Ayoob said.

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