The Hindu : Kerala / Kochi News : ‘Cusat wants to be an IIT, not IIEST’

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‘Cusat wants to be an IIT, not IIEST’

Staff Reporter

KOCHI: Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) has conveyed to the Union Ministry of Human Resources Development that it should be upgraded into an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and not an Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST).

Confirming the decision, Vice-Chancellor Gangan Prathap told The Hindu here on Friday that he had conveyed this message to the joint secretary of the Ministry during a recent meeting held in New Delhi. The Ministry had convened the meet to discuss the budgetary provisions for the proposed IIESTs in the country.

Asking why Cusat should not be upgraded into an IIT, Dr. Prathap said the State failed to get the status of the prestigious institution at a time when the Union government had sanctioned eight more IITs across the country. “We had a just claim. But it was not given,” he said.

Pointing out that the university had actually requested for an IIT status and not an IIEST, Dr. Prathap said the Union Ministry had agreed to provide the framework of a National Institute of Technology for the proposed IIEST. It is reliably learnt that the Vice-Chancellor had actually conveyed the government stance on the IIEST issue during the meeting in New Delhi.

Sources in the Higher Education Department said the government feared that it might lose an opportunity to have an IIT while accepting the proposal for converting Cusat into an IIEST. The Chief Minister and Education Minister had stepped up their efforts to secure an IIT for the State, the sources said.

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