Kerala - Kochi   

Decision on upgrading Cusat soon

G. Krishnakumar

Baby says Cabinet will go into the recommendations

KOCHI: The Cabinet will soon take a decision on whether to accept a proposal by the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development to upgrade the Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) into an Indian Institute of Engineering, Science and Technology (IIEST).

Minister for Education M.A. Baby told The Hindu on Saturday that the proposal would be taken up for a detailed review during one of the Cabinet meetings soon. It would discuss the recommendations made by the M. Anandakrishnan Committee appointed by the Ministry to shortlist institutions in the country having potential to be upgraded into national universities or colleges of excellence. Cusat is among the five educational institutions recommended by the committee for the upgrade. The other institutions are the Bengal Engineering and Science University; Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University; Andhra University, College of Engineering; and Osmania University College of Engineering and University College of Technology.

Budgetary support

The Ministry has recommended a budgetary recommendation of Rs. 2,407.86 crore for these institutions during the 2007-2012 Plan period. Cusat will get Rs. 518.81 crore.

Mr. Baby said the expert committee had recommended that the five institutions have a governing body of 12 persons. The Government could nominate three persons to the Board.

The Minister said an Act of Parliament was required for the upgrade. The colleges or institutes recognised by Cusat would have to be affiliated to other universities in the State. All these would be discussed in detail before taking a final decision, he said.

The expert committee recommended that each IIEST have a Board of governors, chaired by an eminent academic, engineer, scientist or industrialist. The Board should be the highest decision making authority. Each institute would have an executive council and academic council, both to be chaired by the president of the institute.

The final report of the committee suggested that the IIESTs be predominantly postgraduate institutions offering five-year integrated dual degree (B.Tech-M.Tech), M.Arch., five-year integrated M.Sc., two-year M.Sc. and Ph.D. programmes.

The IIESTs would have to preserve their all-India character of their student population through national-level admission tests, either by adopting the Joint Entrance Examination system of the Indian Institutes of Technology or the All-India Engineering Entrance Examination. The institutions can also develop a joint entrance test.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Decision on upgrading Cusat soon
Plea to set up Green Bench
Land acquisition for highway on schedule
`Address issues on a pan-India basis'
IGNOU deadline for applying for courses
Firefighters seek a better deal
Training for women
Around the City
In Kochi Today

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu