PM to inaugurate Bihta IIT-P campus on July 25 (original) (raw)

Patna:

Indian Institute of Technology-Patna

(

IIT-P

), which came into existence in August 2008, is now ready to be shifted to its permanent campus scheduled to be inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi at a function on July 25.
Talking to TOI, IIT-P director Pushpak Bhattacharyya said, “We have received a communication from the Union HRD ministry that PM Modi will inaugurate the new campus on July 25 and we are finalizing the details of the programme.”
The construction of the 500-acre new campus at

Bihta

, about 35km west of Patna, started in December 2012 and the 18-month-long project (first phase) was scheduled to be complete by August last.

However, the work got delayed due to various reasons, including agitation by farmers whose land had been acquired for the project.
Officials said space was a big constraint in starting new courses at IIT-P, which currently offers subjects such as Computer Science and Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering and Chemistry at BTech level. “Other phases of the construction work will also be expedited once the 1,000 odd students and faculty members of the institute move on to the permanent campus,” an official said.

The institute reportedly faced huge funds slash due to new IITs planned by the central government and the IIT-P students may not get many of the originally planned facilities on the Bihta campus. Officials said the July 25 programme will be a tightly packed one with PM Modi also scheduled to address a public meeting at Muzaffarpur the same day to kick off the BJP campaign for the Bihar assembly polls later this year.
The shifting process of the institute from its transit to main campus has already started as the new session of 2015-16 will start from the Bihta campus. The tutorial building, food court, administrative buildings, science block, workshop area, boys’ hostel, girls’ hostel, residential quarters and mess, etc are ready at the new campus. While the MTech and PhD 2015 batch will commence with an orientation programme on July 22, the BTech students will have their orientation on August 2 and classes will commence from August 3.
This year, IIT-P will observe its third convocation on August 6, the seventh Foundation Day of the institute. Boeing India president Pratyush Kumar will deliver the convocation address. The convocation and foundation day celebrations will keep the IITians busy on August 6 for the entire day.