Why IIEST for CUSAT

Why IIEST for CUSAT

Paul V Mathew

About IIEST

To meet the increasing demand of technological and scientific workforce in the industrial and service sectors of India as well as the growing need for qualified personnel in research and development, Government of India in 2007 proposed Indian Institutes of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST) which are to be created by upgrading existing engineering colleges or universities under the various State governments of India through an act of the Parliament of India and would  be granted the status of "Institutes of National Importance", on the lines of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and the National Institutes of Technology (NITs).

Followed by the political confusion over the S.K. Joshi committee proposal to upgrade seven universities to the level of IIT, the MHRD appointed Anandakrishnan Committee to decide the modus operendi of the proposed transformation. The committee proposed creation of IIESTs and five universities proposed for upgrade in to IIEST which are as follows:

• IIEST Shibpur Bengal Engineering and Science University, Shibpur (BESU)
• IIEST Varanasi [Banaras Hindu University - Institute of Technology] (BHU-IT)
• IIEST Cochin Cochin University of Science & Technology (CUSAT)
• IIEST Hyderabad Osmania University College of Technology
• IIEST Visakhapatanam Andhra University College of Engineering

A Brief History

BESU in West Bengal converted in to IIEST by the passage of bill in the Rajya SABHA in February 2014. BHU-IT also has been converted to IIT (BHU) through an amendment of the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961. Even though CUSAT was also in the race with BESU, it lost its golden opportunity due to the lack of political will and the inconsistent approach of policy makers. Ruling left government at the time of up gradation adamantly rejected the Central government offer by demanding IIT Status. At last neither IIT nor IIEST for CUSAT and still people continue with their pious wishes by merely looking at the mere political promises.

Aspirations and Apprehensions

There is no question in the fact that CUSAT deserves IIT or IIEST status. Rajiv Tripathi, IIT graduate and an alumina of CUSAT now a professor at IIT says that “in terms of total number of research papers published during 1999–2008 according to the SCOPUS database, CUSAT is ranked 10th in India (above few IITs and all NITs). Amidst limitations, its performance in terms of research is outstanding and it has got high reputation among IIT professors and research communities”. He continued that “we are not begging, but CUSAT deserves the up gradation”. 

At the same time many people are worried about the deteriorating condition of CUSAT. Lack of quality infrastructure, poor local politics and administrative lacunas make the situations very worst. Government of Kerala recently hinted the university to find fund for its operation that in turn forced university to start self financing courses with exorbitant fees. “Once our school was very popular among the business community that ranked eighth in the country; but now its glory fades day by due to its year old infrastructure and low quality output. The introduction of cost sharing courses and unaffordable fees make it the last option for meritorious candidates”. A student at School of Management Studies (SMS) said.     

Albeit CUSAT offers high quality education, many students apprehend about its reputation when move to other places. An alumina of CUSAT recently commended that “being a student of this university I know and believe strongly that the level of education here in no less than any of the reputed colleges of the nation, but still when I tell people about my college they scan its credibility under a microscope especially in the central and northern parts of India. Despite of the fact that students here are very talented they do not get what they deserve after rigorous studies for 4 years , because of its obscure identity ,the university is unable to call companies for placements as a result the students have to suffer. Moreover the university also fails in sanctioning the requisite funds for student development”

When people have different opinions on IIEST, Prof. (Dr.) V P N Namboothri, Department of Physics reiterates that “conversion of CUSAT to an Institute of National importance will make the departments to progress further and to get relieved from the local political obstructions”. Considering the deplorable situation of Kerala exchequer and the University’s failure to find money for its development projects, IIEST seems an excellent opportunity for CUSAT to catapult in to the heights. IIESTs are supposed to receive funding similar to that of IITs after the planned upgrade over next five years. Each college will receive one-time amount (spread over five years) of 5 billion (US$80 million) for infrastructure improvement and annual funding of 500 million (US$8.0 million). Ananthakrishnan committee’s proposed allocation of Rs. 80 crore to Rs. 100 crore would be greatly beneficial to CUSAT. The annual budget of an IIT was in the range of Rs. 100 crore to Rs. 150 crore. On the other hand, the budget of a National Institute of Technology was between Rs. 20 crore and 30 crore. CUSAT’s fund is only Rs. 22 crore. Said Gangan Prtahap, former vice-chancellor of CUSAT.

IIEST is envisaged to be a group of institutions better than the IITs according to professor Anandakrishnan committee. The new status will help CUSAT rediscover its lost glory and help maintain high standards in scientific research, said former vice-chancellor of CUSAT Dr P K Abdul Aziz.

It is expected that a chunk of the estimated Rs 1,500-crore fund will be used for infrastructural development. This includes improving lab facilities, modernization of existing equipment, student’s hostel, residential buildings for faculty etc. The new status will boost research ties and MoUs can be signed with different national and international institutions. There is a master development plan which will change the face of the whole campus, the registrar said.
An anonym reports about the myths on IIEST proposal.

• IITs.MIT etc are "institutes"...and no one will say that such "institutes” are lower in status to University.
• Presently, less than 25% seats are secured by Kerala students in CUSAT. In the proposed plan, 50% of the seats are reserved for Keralites. To assure admission in an institution of national importance is only a privilege for Kerala students.
• The Ananthakrishnan committee report has clearly mentioned that all the existing departments will continue, including Science departments, Management, Hindi, Economics etc.
•  The state Govt. is not selling CUSAT to any pvt.party. Its only a take over by the central Govt. The state Govt. assistance to CUSAT is about 25-30 crores per year only. We know that the facilities now available in CUSAT are mainly accorded through central Govt funding agencies like UGC,DST,CSIR etc.
• The intitial 550 plus crore for CUSAT is only for the infrastructural development. It is to raise the facilities in CUSAT. Remember that similar amount of fund will flow to CUSAT in the forthcoming years too.
• The arguments against IIEST proposals are very narrow and baseless. It is with wasted interest only.
•  Those who argues against IIEST have either haven't gone through the full text of the Ananathakrishnana Ccommittee re port, which is the guideline for conversion to IIEST.or ,they are hiding the facts, and coming up with baseless arguments.
•  Its my humble request to go through the Anaanthakrishnana committee report. The copy of it is available in the CUSAT website also (CUSAT to IIEST link).

When university becomes IIEST, all the colleges which are now recognized by CUSAT will be delinked and they should seek affiliation or recognition from the nearest university or to form a technical university. Also more new non-teaching staffs may be remain under state government and other positions will be filled by centre (needed clarification).

When these are the facts some people still reluctant to accept the truth and remain agitated. As we already have a proposed IIT at Palakkad, there is no further scope for IIT status for CUSAT. An open secret is that those who have certain political interest on appointments, key positions and certain power centers are still playing to delaying the process.  When BESU secured IIEST status Kerala fails to get through that itself proves our lack of commitment and quench for excellence. In response to this failure, Union MHRD minister Dr. Shashi Tharoor informed that “this bill remains one of over 40 in the last couple of years that UPA had hoped to pass but which have failed to get off the ground. But since it is not a controversial bill there is no reason why it cannot be revived after the elections."

Enough is enough! When the internal politics scores over our real needs and all ears turn dumb to our voices, it is our responsibility to stand up and speak out for a noble cause. University is not a political play ground but for academic grooming and its objective is not to develop power politics but to create luminaries of science. We want to see our CUSAT to be elevated to IIEST.

However, as a last ray of hope, few of the current students and alumni of CUSAT are petitioning to Mr. Tharoor and asking him to deliver on his promises. Fill this petition (click here) if you want your CUSAT to see as an institute of national importance. 

Paul V Mathew is a Research Scholar at the School of Management Studies, Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT)

Reference: www.wikipedia.org, The Hindu News Paper, http://kerala4u.in/