Guwahati, May 30: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati, set up under the Assam Accord, is facing shortage of faculty and fewer students from the Northeast are joining it.

This problem was highlighted by the institute’s director Gautam Barua on the occasion of its fifth convocation during which 217 students received their bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in different disciplines at the institue’s campus in north Guwahati.

Chairman of Space Commission and secretary, department of space, K. Kasturirangan, was the chief guest. Governor Lt. Gen. (retd) S.K. Sinha who is also the chairman of the Board of Governors, presided over the convocation.

Abhishek Verma of the department of computer science and engineering was awarded the President’s gold medal for best academic performance while the Shankar Dayal Sharma gold medal was given to Yugandhar Reddy Karna of the same department for general proficiency.

Kasturirangan said the Indian Space Research Organisation was eager to join hands with IIT Guwahati in undertaking research in technologies which accelerate development in the region.

The Gauhati Medical College Hospital will have a satellite telemedicine network with the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) which will be connected with other district hospitals.

The Northeast Space Applications Centre, established by the department of space, has plans to operate a satellite communications network in the region for undertaking development communications including training and education in the region, he added.

Barua in his director’s report said while the institute’s progress has been satisfactory, much more needs to be done for it to be adjudged among the best in the world.

He said it was difficult to get good students for the master’s courses, and the institute’s location and relative lack of resources had made the situation worse.

On the need to increase the faculty strength from 111 to 285 in the next four years, Barua said there was a shortage of applicants in a few key departments. Moreover members of the existing faculty are getting offers from and moving to other IITs, he added.