Centre gives Rs100-cr for NIT-Srinagar, other technical institutes in state

Union minister for human resource development Prakash Javadekar on Saturday announced Rs100 crore central grant for creating research infrastructure at the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Srinagar, besides upgrading all institutes of higher and technical education across the state.

''On this historic occasion, I want to make two important announcements to further improve the standard of higher and technical education in Jammu and Kashmir. We will be providing Rs100 crore to upgrade and improve the facilities and research infrastructure at the NIT, Srinagar, which has been doing well,'' the HRD minister, said while addressing a gathering after inaugurating the interim centre of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Jammu.

He said the HRD ministry has also decided to upgrade and improve facilities in all higher and technical education centres in J&K.

''Under the Technical Education Upgradation Programme, an initiative of the government with focus on J&K, the infrastructure in all higher and technical education institutes will be further upgraded and strengthened,'' he said, adding that it was aimed at providing better environment to the students to excel in their respective fields. ''These are two gifts I wanted to give to the people of Jammu and Kashmir,'' he added.

Expressing his delight over the inauguration of the interim campus of the IIT, Jammu, he said the institution would go a long way in building and harnessing the talent of the entire state.

Javadekar said every possible step would be taken with a special attention to bring in all the facilities and trainers ensuring quality generation out of the talent pool at the IIT, Jammu, in order to fulfil the dream of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

On the ''Make in India'' slogan, the minister said, ''It is all about research. The prime  minister has asked them (NRIs) to come innovate, invest in 'Make in India' and say with pride 'Made in India'.''

Javadekar also appreciated Jammu and Kashmir for ''better gross enrolment ratio (GER)'' of students and the state had performed exceptionally well in the education sector, despite unfavourable circumstances. ''The national GER of students is 23.6 per cent, while this (GER) of girl students in J&K is 27 per cent and that of boys is 25 per cent,'' he said.

The institution is the first IIT for the state set up to create a learning environment and will be built over 500 acres of land near Jammu city.

Jammu is among the six cities across the country which were set to get IITs. Meanwhile, in the first year, the institute will function from a well-equipped temporary campus in Paloura, Jammu that will have all the facilities to meet the standards.

The institution will offer a set of programmes across various academic streams that will follow a credit system and the performance in a course will be continuously evaluated.