Calcutta, June 6: Bengal higher education minister Bratya Basu today said he had submitted a proposal to Kapil Sibal to set up an IIT or an IIM in Darjeeling “for the people of the hills”. He has also urged the Centre to expedite the process of setting up 18 model colleges across the state.

Basu, who is in Delhi to attend a conference of higher education ministers and secretaries from across the country, told Star Ananda: “We had proposed to the Centre to set up either an IIT or an IIM in Darjeeling for the people of the hills… It was a very positive discussion and the HRD minister has agreed to consider our proposals.”

Sources close to Basu said he had also urged Sibal, the HRD minister, to release the Centre’s share of arrears to pay the college teachers their revised salaries under the Sixth Pay Commission.

Higher education department sources said chief minister Mamata Banerjee had asked Basu to submit the proposal to set up an IIT or IIM in Darjeeling district.

Sources said the Centre had earlier announced its plans to increase the number of IITs in the country. “So, Mamata now wants an IIT in Darjeeling because it will add to the development of north Bengal,” said the source.

“There is no quality engineering institution in north Bengal. After coming to power in Bengal, Mamata Banerjee has given special emphasis on all round development of north Bengal and an IIT is in her scheme of things,” sources in the higher education department added.

As for the model colleges, the Union cabinet had approved in January last year plans to set up model colleges in 374 educationally backward districts of the country.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had in 2007 announced that the government would set up model colleges in districts — where the gross enrolment rate in colleges is below the national average. A University Grants Commission panel had the same year identified 374 districts as educationally backward. Several of these districts are in Bengal.

In 2008, the erstwhile Left Front government had submitted the proposal to set up model colleges in Bengal.

“A model college will be an institution with quality infrastructure and certain facilities appropriate for the respective area where it will be set up. According to the Centre’s proposal, two-third of the cost will have to be borne by the state government and the rest by the Centre. The cost to set up such a college would be around Rs 8 crore,” said a source in the higher education department.