Completing a steep climb on the academic ladder with relative ease himself, Sanat Kumar Mukherjee, the vice-chancellor of BIT-Mesra, has set similar lofty goals for his institute. But this astute administrator, who seems more than comfortable shouldering the responsibilities of more than 10,000 students and 650 faculty members, gets going when the going gets tough. Speaking to A. Chattoraj, the vice-chancellor unveils his take on the highs and lows of the year bygone.

How did BIT fare in 2006?

It was a fairly good year for BIT except the one mishap at the fag end of it. The crowning glory came when the Patna extension centre started functioning from October, thanks to Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar. In 2006, we also introduced two new postgraduate courses — one in geo-informatics and the other in bio-informatics.

What went wrong with Deoghar project? Was the government indifferent?

Jharkhand government was willing but 2005 being an election year, it had stoop down to certain constraints according to the code of conduct put in place by the Election Commission. But the project is moving at a fast pace and the land has been fenced already.

Did the Jharkhand government invite you to take up any projects?

Oh, yes. We trained about 300 youths in IT-enabled services under a programme conducted by the departments of industries. The process is going on and we expect to train about 500 youths by March 2007. We train them in such a manner that most of them end up being employed. However, the institute can only develop and transfer skills and can promise nothing beyond that. Besides, we are also thankful to the government for supporting us in some of our ongoing projects.

Any special moments in 2006 you like to share with us?

Yes, of course. BIT-Mesra hosted the East zone vice-chancellors’ conference in which 26 vice-chancellors took part. It was a great event for us. Also, our students were chosen for the International Students’ Formula Sports Car Competition in the UK.