KOCHI: The Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) cannot be upgraded to the status of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)as the Central Government’s policy stipulates that the proposed IIT must be a new institution, said chief minister Oommen Chandy here on Tuesday.
“The proposed new Indian Institute of Technology will come up in Palakkad, for which the land has already been identified,” the Chief Minister said.
The chief minister was speaking after inaugurating the new seminar complex at Cusat.
“While the Central Government proposes a new IIT for the State, it also makes it clear that the IIT should be a new one. For that reason, Cusat cannot be upgraded to the status of IIT. However, it can be upgraded to the level of Indian Institute of Science and Technology (IIST),” he said.
“The Central Government has agreed in principle to upgrade Cusat to IIST, and the Planning Commission has approved the same. The process is currently under the scrutiny of the Finance Commission. The government will make sure that Cusat gets IIST status in the current financial year itself,” he added.
The Chief Minister was responding to minister V K Ebrahim Kunju’s request to upgrade Cusat to the level of IIT, in his presidential address.
Speaking on the occasion, Cusat vice-chancellor-in-charge Paulose Jacob said that the seminar complex project was initiated 20 years ago, but hit a roadblock due to many reasons. The complex is fully air-conditioned, and has a seating capacity of 750.
The Chief Minister also inaugurated the golden jubilee celebrations of the School of Management Studies (SMS) at Cusat. The SMS is one of the earliest departments in Cusat, which presently has 180 full-time and 30 part-time seats.
Cusat former Vice-chancellors M V Pylee and Babu Joseph were also present at the event.
Cusat registrar S David Peter; Benny Behnan MLA; Kalamassery municipality chairman Jamal Manakkadan; SMS director M Bhasi; Kerala Management Association former president Deepak Aswani; and Syndicate members Hibi Eden, Sunny P Jose, Nedumudy Harikumar, K A Zakkariya, A Mujeeb and K Sajan were also present.
vacant posts to be filled
Kochi: Cusat Vice-chancellor-in-charge Paulose Jacob has said that no appointments were made in the varsity for many years to the post of teachers, and that dozens of them were lying vacant. He said that the matter was being looked into, and would be resolved within two months. He pointed out that research was going on in a fast in many departments. “The research output in the university is good, for which grants are being sanctioned. In order to make optimum use of the grants, more teachers must submit their proposals,” the acting Vice-Chancellor said.