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Classes begin at IIT Patna; inauguration later

Patna: After months of suspense, classes at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Patna commenced on Thursday while the formal inauguration will take place at a later date.

Union Minister for Human Resource Development Arjun Singh, who was scheduled to inaugurate the institute run from a three-storey make-shift building on the Pataliputra Government Polytechnic campus, could not turn up as he was indisposed, official sources said.

No formal invitation had been sent to the State Government or even Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for the occasion, Science and Technology Minister Sahid Ali Khan claimed.

State science and Technology Department sources had on Wednesday said the formal launch of the Institute was put off due to ‘some unavoidable reasons.’

“The Centre will fix a fresh date for the formal launch of the institute,” sources said.

Meanwhile, admission seekers accompanied by guardians queued up to fill registration forms soon after an orientation programme.

Classes for the first batch of 108 students, including six girls, however, began on Thursday, official sources said.

IIT Patna got its formal name through a Parliamentary ratification.

The Patna institute will function as an extension centre of IIT, Guwahati, they said. -- PTI

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