My Wish… “Institute of National Importance” Tag For My Alma Mater BIT Sindri

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By Dr P R Prasad

In the present era of a highly competitive world, it appears to me that my Alma Mater BIT Sindri is struggling to grow to a stature which it deserves. When I was in ISc and a prospective engineering student, I had learnt that BIT Sindri was set to become a top institute in Asia under the dynamic leaderships of the then Director, Prof D L Deshpande and the Chief Minister Dr Sri Krishna Singh. But after their demise, BIT’s dream to find a place among top institutes of Asia got systematically wiped out by proactive voices to make it primarily a state level institute (previously of Bihar and now of Jharkhand).

BIT Sindri came into existence as College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering in 1949 at Patna. Later it was shifted to Sindri on 17th November 1950. Those who are aware of the background of BIT’s birth will remember that it came into existence only because the first IIT of the independent India was denied to Bihar and sanctioned to Bengal at Kharagpur. BIT was thus born with a vision to become an institution atleast at par with IIT if not better.

I feel really proud when I read the Mission, Vision and Goal of my alma mater mentioned on BIT Sindri’s official web site. It says —

Mission:
To achieve academic excellence of International standard

Vision:
To impart quality education in engineering and technology and produce highly technically trained human resources of world class quality. To promote research and development in the emerging and thrust areas and attainment of academic excellence

Goal:
To become dynamic, quality conscious, forward looking and responsive to global economic & technological development by imparting quality technical education

These days I find people discussing round the social media and in personal interactions as to whether BIT Sindri is able to live upto the expectations of its stated Mission, Vision and Goal. The opinions stand sharply divided. Most people are emotionally attached and derive satisfaction and pride in remaining glued to its glorious past while others feel that this legacy has not propelled its growth to a rightful status. Obviously, emotions, feelings or beliefs can be justified but  cannot be countered by any logic. The opinion choice therefore remains with the stakeholders and everyone seems to be right in his/her own context.

As for myself, as a student, faculty, alumnus and guardian for several years at BIT Sindri, I had the opportunity to observe its functioning very closely first under the state of Bihar and then Jharkhand. Based on my experiences, I wish to make only two observations at this point of time – (i) BIT students are amongst the best in the world and (ii) no state government is capable of running and maintaining an educational institution of BIT Sindri stature. I feel, if BIT is allowed to remain what it remained so far, it might be pushed to the oblivion by the passage of time. People ask me, “What should be done?” Honestly speaking, I don’t know. But…

Some clues can be taken from some contemporary institutions’ growth history which can inspire BITians while planning growth strategy. These institutions have left the past and moved ahead to aquire the tag of “Institute of National Importance” from MHRD/UGC.

B E College Shibpur
Bengal Engineering College, Shibpur in West Bengal was the country’s second-oldest institution for engineering education established in 1856 under the state Government and affiliated to Calcutta University.  The college was elevated to the status of a “Deemed University” in 1992 by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India on the recommendation of a UGC Expert Committee and was formally inaugurated in March 1993. It was elevated to a full fledged university status in 2004 as Bengal Engineering and Science University, Shibpur.

In March 2014, it was further elevated to national status by amending the National Institutes of Technology and Science Education and Research (NITSER) Act, 2007, renaming it as Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur (भारतीय अभियांत्रिकी विज्ञान एवं प्रौद्योगिकी संस्थान, शिवपुर), commonly abbreviated as IIEST Shibpur, and granting it the status of Institute of National Importance at par with the Indian Institutes of Technology and Indian Institute of Science.

IIT Roorkee
The present IIT Roorkee had a modest beginning as the Thomason College of Engineering in the year 1847, and was converted to the First Technical University of India in the year 1949. On September 21, 2001, an Ordinance issued by the Government of India declared it as the nation’s seventh Indian Institute of Technology. The Ordinance is now converted into an Act by the Parliament to make IIT Roorkee as an “Institute of National Importance“.

NIT Patna
BCE Patna was started as survey training school in 1886 and later upgraded to a full-fledget engineering college in 1924 as Bihar College of Engineering, Patna. It was thus born as the 6th Oldest Engineering Institute of India. In January 2004, it was further upgraded as the 18th NIT and rechristened as National Institute of Technology, Patna. It is now a fully autonomous institute and has been declared as an Institute of National Importance by MHRD, Government of India.

ISM Dhanbad
The McPherson Committee formed by Govt. of India, recommended the establishment of an institution for imparting education in the fields of Mining and Geology, whose report, submitted in 1920, formed the main basis for establishment of the Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad. The Indian School of Mines was formally opened on 9th December 1926, by Lord Irwin, the then Viceroy of India to address the need for trained manpower related to mining activities in the country with disciplines of Mining and Applied Geology. In 1967 it was granted the status of a deemed to be university. The Indian School of Mines University is now a strong contender to get the status of IIT. Meanwhile, all the stakeholders of ISMU have intensified their campaign for IIT status. The IIT council is likely to take decision on ISMU demand on September 22 or first week of October.

My simple wish… “Institute of National Importance” tag for my Alma Mater BIT Sindri

 

Justice to the Accused not to the Victim – Mockery of the Spirit of Law

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By Dr P R Prasad

There is a higher court than courts of justice and that is the court of conscience. It supercedes all other courts.
— Mahatma Gandhi

An innocent girl was gangraped and brutally assaulted by six men and then thrown out of the moving bus in Delhi in the late evening hours of December 16, 2012. The girl was treated in a Delhi hospital, her intestine had to be surgically removed and was air-lifted to a Singapore hospital in critical condtion where she finally died. This drew widespread protests from various sections of society demanding justice for the victim girl and death penalty for the heinous crime committed by the six men. All the accused have been since then arrested and chargesheet has been filed. The proceedings of the case has started in a fast track court for speedy trial.

One contentious issue in this case relates to one of the accused who is not only said to be a minor and but also most brutal among the six accused. Delhi police had demanded bone ossification test for confirmation of his correct age, but the Juvenile Justice Board recently rejected it and accepted his date of birth as 4 June 1995 as per his primary school records. So, being less than 18 years of age he cannot be tried in a regular court. He will be tried in a juvenile court and if convicted, he faces a maximum of 3 years in a remand home. Ironically, he cannot be put in jail and after attaining the age of 18 years he can neither be kept in a remand home. He is then a free man after 4 June 2013.

While the Juvenile Justice Board accepted the date of birth as 4 June 1995 as per school admission register, the headmaster of the school says – “There is no concept of producing birth certificates in village schools at the time of admission. People just bring their children and tell us their approximate age. We admit a child based on what the parents tell us. We can’t really be sure of his age, but as per the school admission records, he is 17 years and six months old. He could be older than this, but I’m sure he is not younger.“

The Juvenile Justice Act is intended to safeguard the interests of children and works on the premise that those below the age of 18 can be reformed and therefore they are not sent to jail but to reform or remand homes. But when the crime is heinous and rarest of the rare nature, US and UK laws permit prosecution of the juvenile as adult, but there is no such provision in Indian laws. Thus, the law is there to protect the accused and deny justice to the victim.

Delhi police will appeal against the decision of the Juvenile Justice Board in a higher court. People are watching anxiously if the victim will get justice or it will remain just a mockery of our justice delivery system.

I have come across another case where a well intended law has denied justice to the victim:

Madhya Pradesh: A girl was married off at the age of 14 by her parents. The marriage was marked by physical and mental cruelty and finally she got a divorce after 13 years of marriage. She got no maintenance from her husband and had to bring up two children. She decided to study and inspite of all the odds against her, she cleared the state civil services exams. But she was shocked when she was told that she was disqualified for the job. Reason – the law. She was married at the age of 14 and therefore it was an offense under Child Marriage Act.

Rule 6(5) of MP Civil Services (general condition of service) Rules, 1961 as ammended on March 10, 2005, says, “No candidate shall be eligible for appointment to a service or post who has married before the minimum age fixed for marriage. The minimum age of marriage for a boy is 21 years while that for a girl is 18 years.”

She challenged her disqualification and the legal validity of rule 6(5). The High Court dismissed her petition and justified the provision saying Rule 6(5) had been introduced to prevent child marriages more effectively as various laws to eradicate the social evil had not yielded results.

She has appealed to the Supreme Court. She is in fact a victim of the deplorable practice of child marriage in her society, but she is being treated as an offender and is being denied an opportunity to live with dignity and respect by earning her livelihood. The Supreme Court judgement needs to be watched.