Permanent campus at Sohra to start functioning from 2018
SHILLONG: National Institute of Technology, Meghalaya, which runs from a temporary campus at Bijni Complex in Laitumkhrah, has topped the list of 11 new NITs. Work at the institute’s permanent campus at Kut Madan in Sohra is on.
Out of 1,438 engineering institutes, NIT-Meghalaya was placed at 57 rank by National Institute Ranking Framework under the Ministry of Human Resource Development in April this year, said NIT Director Prof. Dilip Kumar Saikia. Besides, NIT secured 15th position among the 31 NITs and top position among the new NITs.
There is a plan to shift the institute to the permanent campus at the end of 2017 as the construction will be completed by the beginning of 2018, Saikia said.
After NIT was established by the Centre in Meghalaya in 2010, classes for the two batches of students were held from Surat and it was after the appointment of a new director in November 2011 that the temporary campus started functioning from Bijni Complex, Laitumkhrah.
While the foundation stone for the building was laid on October 12, 2012, the construction work for the permanent campus began in 2013-2014, but the desired progress is yet to be achieved due to the problem related to fund flow.
To a question, the NIT director said adverse weather conditions in Sohra will not affect the functioning of NIT.
For the first phase, out of Rs 500 crore sanctioned, Rs 100 crore was released by the Centre and the remaining amount will be allotted in phases. RITES Ltd, a Government of India enterprise, was entrusted with the construction of the permanent campus.
As the initial Detailed Project Report was not up to the mark, Educational Consultants India Limited (Ed.CIL), another Central government enterprise, has taken up the task of preparing an extensive DPR with a long-term plan till 2030 in four phases.
While the first phase of the construction of the institute will be completed in 2018, the remaining phases, with a four-year each period, have been planned for the intake of up to 1,600 students, the director said.
The approved strength of students at the campus is 900 and currently there are as many as 820 students in all batches while the strength of the faculty is 70.
The setting up of NIT in Meghalaya has come as a blessing since the State government and others rely on the expertise of the institute.
“Our civil engineering department is engaging in a lot of works for the State government, including design on earthquake resistant buildings, vetting designs and social auditing to ensure quality of works.
“Moreover, NEEPCO and Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) send their personnel for consultancy work,” the director added.
Courses offered The courses offered at NIT are four-year B.Tech with five disciplines (Electronics, Computer Science, Electricals, Mechanical and Civil) and M.Tech in the same disciplines, MSc in physics, chemistry and mathematics and PhD in five engineering disciplines, in addition to physics, chemistry and mathematics.
While three batches of B.Tech students and a batch of M.Tech have passed out till date, three PhD scholars have submitted their theses.
The students have secured job placements and some of them are currently employed with IBM, Infosys, Wipro, Larsen and Toubro and others.
Moreover, for the current batch of students who will pass out next year, 50 per cent job placement has already been assured.
Reservation
In B.Tech, 50 per cent of the seats are reserved for students from Meghalaya and the state reservation policy will apply to the selection process. Out of the total 820 students, at least 40 per cent is currently from Meghalaya.
The process of admission is through the joint entrance examination followed by central on line counselling, but the cut-off marks for selection is different for SC/ST students.
While no tuition fee is charged for SC/ST students, the fee structure per year for the categories of students under general and OBCs are Rs 1.55 lakh per year.
However, fees are reduced for poor students depending on the income level of the family.