Patna, Jan. 2: The National Institute of Technology (NIT) administration has agreed to shift to a 100-acre campus at Bihta “reluctantly” as the state government expressed its inability to provide 300 acres to the institution.
Science and technology department principal secretary Arun Kumar Singh wrote a letter to NIT administration last week stating that the state government was willing to provide the institution 100 acres for setting up its new campus.
NIT registrar Vidyasagar told The Telegraph: “We have no other option but to accept the plot as we can’t delay the process of shifting to the new campus.”
The land at Amhara village in Bihta is around 40km from the capital. The registrar said: “Even Kapil Sibal, Union minister for human resource and development, had written a letter on April 18, 2011, requesting chief minister Nitish Kumar to provide 300 acres.”
Nitish, in his reply to Sibal, had pleaded inability to provide more than 100 acres.
Sources said the Bihar government claimed that as Bihar has an agrarian economy, it would be difficult to allocate fertile land for industrial, commercial and educational institutions.
The registrar said: “At present, the NIT functions from a 30-acre campus along Ashok Rajpath. A portion of it has been encroached upon.”
S.M. Jha, the director (in-charge), NIT, Patna, said: “Based on maps provided by the state government, we have gathered that the land is not a single plot and two roads pass through it. In such a situation, it will be difficult for us to function smoothly.”
Sources also said the soil of the plot being provided by the government was sandy and it would be difficult to construct high-rise buildings.
A senior teacher of NIT said: “While providing land, Nitish had asked the NIT administration to go in for vertical construction but that will be difficult on sandy soil.”
The NIT administration has formed a three-member committee comprising teachers and officials for inspecting the land and the legal documents of the plot.
At present, NIT offers seven undergraduate courses — civil, mechanical, electrical, electronics, architecture, computer science and information technology with a total intake of 90 students every year. Owing to space crunch on the present campus, the tech cradle is facing hurdles in starting undergraduate courses like production engineering and postgraduate courses such as MBA and MCA.
A senior teacher of NIT said: “We face problems in running courses from the present campus as there is no scope for expansion. We have to take classes and conduct practical sessions in shifts.”
NIT demand: 300 acres for shifting campus from Ashok Rajpath
Reason: Space crunch at existing campus preventing NIT from starting new courses
State offer: 100 acres at Amhara village in Bihta lHurdle: Two roads pass through the plot
Tech cradle compulsion:NIT registrar Vidyasagar said: “We have no other option but to
accept the plot.”
Why: The process of shifting to new campus can’t be delayed
Road ahead: NIT has formed a three-member committee, including teachers and officials Its job: Inspect plot and legal documents
