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The process of converting the Bengal Engineering and Science University in Sibpur, West Bengal, into an institute of national importance was set in motion today with the Government introducing a legislation in this regard in the Lok Sabha.
The National Institute of Technology, Science Education and Research (Amendment) Bill, 2013, was introduced by Minister of State for HRD Jitin Prasada, the passage of which will transform the university into the Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST).
IIEST will be an institute of international standards and will produce quality manpower for the strategic sector and quality teachers for institutions of engineering and science education.
The Government had in 2010 taken an ‘in-principle’ decision to convert BESU to IIEST. However, the conversion process got delayed due to several factors, which included unrest in the BESU campus.
The Government had constituted an expert committee in 2005, which had recommended the upgrade of five institutes, including BESU, into IIESTs.
According to the finance memorandum of the Bill, Rs 1 crore has been allocated in the ongoing fiscal for the conversion of the institute.
It also proposes an outlay of Rs 592.20 crore over a period of five years, with a stipulation that the sanctioned funds would be on incremental basis after assessing the requirement as part of the annual budgetary exercise.
The Bill also seeks to establish a council for the institutes under the Act.
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