A year after the Centre announced an IIT for Rajasthan,the successive state governments first led by the BJP and now by the Congress have failed to come up with a site for the premier institute on time. While IIT-Kanpur,which is mentoring the institute,managed to share its campus,resources and faculty with IIT-Rajasthan for a whole academic year,it has now been officially conveyed to the institute that it needs to continue doing so for at least another semester. IIT-Kanpur has been asked to manage the first batch of IIT-Rajasthan admitted last year along with the second batch some additional 120 students who will join from July to December this year. The other five new IITs,also started last year with mentoring by older IITs,will be operating from new temporary sites. Some new IITs,in fact,had even started operations from temporary sites last year itself. But in case of Rajasthan,there has been quite a delay and debate on a suitable site for the premier institute. The Government of Rajasthan has formed a committee to decide on the location of the new IIT,and the process is on. However,it will take some time before they take a final decision,so we have been asked to manage IIT- Rajasthan second batch as well for at least another semester until year-end. While faculty and classrooms will not be a problem because we created adequate infrastructure for IIT-Rajasthans first batch last year,accommodation is a problem, says Prof S G Dhande,the IIT-Kanpur director. The plan is now to accommodate the IIT-Rajasthan's students in a dormitory outside the campus with a shuttle bus service running between 6 am and 10 pm on a daily basis. This will be a short 15-20 minute trip to IIT-Kanpur campus. With 10 courses on offer starting this academic session,faculty recruitments will also soon begin for IIT- Rajasthan,soon after the model code of conduct ceases to be in effect. The issue of a suitable location for IIT-Rajasthan has been the subject of a tug-of-war between the Centre and the state Government since 2006 when an IIT for Rajasthan was first announced. While the Vasundhara Raje-led BJP Government in the state lost the chance to inaugurate the IIT in Rajasthan owing to its insistence on Kota as the one and only site for the institute,the HRD Ministry pushed for Jaipur as the best possible site. The Ministry has been opposed to Kota as it is known for its IIT-JEE coaching centres and that,the ministry feels,could affect faculty and student profile there. Soon after the Congress came to power in the state,the HRD Ministry was confident that the Ashok Gehlot-led Government would quickly sign on the dotted line for Jaipur. However,Gehlot said to be in favour of a site in his constituency in Jodhpur. Ultimately,the state Government formed a committee to help in site selection for the IIT,IIM and Central university and other institutes announced for Rajasthan.
