The National Institute of Technology-Patna has brought its space crunch and inadequate hostel facility to the notice of President Pranab Mukherjee.

A source said the institute’s director, Asok De, underlined the need for increasing the infrastructure facilities at the institution during the two-day meeting of NIT (National Institute of Technology) directors with Mukherjee from October 29. The meet concluded on Thursday. Union human resource and development (HRD) minister Smriti Irani and senior HRD officials also attended the meeting.

The source said NIT-Patna could not introduce new courses because of space crunch. Also, the institute provides hostel accommodation to only 25 per cent of its students. There are around 2,000 students in the institute. The NIT-Patna provides hostel accommodation to around 200 girl students and 300 boys.

The source said NIT-Patna also raised the issue of the government’s failure to hand it over 100 acres of land at Bihta.

The agenda of the meeting convened by the President was the steps required to encourage research and technological innovation for meeting national development goals. De, the NIT-Patna director, told The Telegraph: “Issues related to technology-enabled learning; building international networks and linkages for quality improvement and initiatives for capacity development of faculty members were also discussed.”

The President asked the NITs to find resonance with the needs and aspirations of the people. He said each NIT should adopt at least one village on the model of Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana launched by the Prime Minister and transform it into a model village worthy of replication.

Mukherjee said the NITs should be the connecting force among rural innovations, local employment and world-class manufacturing.

The President asked the engineers and scientists to come forward in national development in the context of urbanisation, water supply, sanitation, environment protection, efficiency in delivery of healthcare and education for innovative solutions. Mukherjee asked the NITs to nurture world-class and professionally competent engineers who will not only take India to new heights in technology but also improve the quality of life of the people.

The President said he had called upon the scientists, researchers and academics among Indian diaspora to become a part of Indian campuses during his recent visit to Norway and Finland.