Two seven-storied hostel blocks to accommodate over 1,500, 36 air-conditioned "smart" classrooms with projectors and wi-fi connectivity and an automated mess to cater to around 800 are among the many facilities coming up at National Institute of Technology (NIT) that's set to host, albeit temporarily, the first batch of students of Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT).
The upgrades at the Adityapur tech cradle, courtesy a grant of over Rs 200 crore from the Union ministry of human resources, are expected to be ready by August when the first batch of 60 IIIT students begin their classes.
NIT spokesperson Deepak Chowrasia said work on the twin hostel blocks was being speeded up.
"Construction of the two hostels, each accommodating 754 students who would each get a single room with a balcony, was expected to be complete by March. The rooms will be well furnished," he told The Telegraph, adding that all NIT as well as IIIT students would be allotted rooms at the new hostels.
NIT has 3,400 students on its rolls. While hostel accommodation on campus is provided to 2,500 students, the rest of the 900 students have to live elsewhere. However, once the two mega hostel blocks were ready, all 900 would get to say on campus.
The first batch of students of IIIT, expected to comprise 60 students, would also get rooms in the new hostel blocks.
Elaborating on the automated mess, Chowrasia said it would be the first of its kind in any technical institute of Jharkhand.
"The mess, equipped with roti-makers, microwave ovens and dishwashers, will have a capacity to feed 800 students," he said, adding that it would become operational around the time of the new session in August.
Regarding the smart classrooms coming up at a triple-storey building, the spokesperson said each of the 36 classrooms would be able to accommodate 120. "The NIT building and works committee has already given its approval for the project. We are awaiting a nod from the board of governors," he said.
NIT was chosen as the temporary campus of IIIT by the Union HRD minister at a meeting in Delhi on January 21.
The meeting, chaired by higher education secretary V.S. Oberoi, was attended by state IT secretary Sunil Kumar Barnwal, director of National Institute of Foundry and Forge Technology (NIFFT) Partha Pratim Chattopadhyay and NIT director Rambau Kodai, who is also IIIT mentor director.
"NIT has been selected to temporarily host the first batch of IIIT students till such time a new campus comes up at Sanga village in Kanke near Ranchi. NIT was found to be more suitable for conducting IIIT courses as it already has a well-established infrastructure," Barnwal had told The Telegraph at the time.
The first batch of IIIT will comprise 60 students, 30 each in computer science engineering (CSE) and electronics and communications engineering (ECE). Its four-year B.Tech course is divided into eight semesters.
NIT, officials said, had already formed a committee to design the twin IIIT courses allotted to it.
NIT, one of 30 under the Union HRD ministry, was first established as a Regional Institute of Technology in 1960 at Adityapur in Seraikela-Kharsawan district, near Jamshedpur. It was upgraded to a national institute in December 2002 and given the status of a deemed university.
