Srinagar: The 18 member Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth, and Sports on Wednesday visited National Institute of Technology (NIT) Srinagar and held a meeting with the members of the senate, administrative officers and faculty members of the Institute. The delegation was headed by Rajya Sabha member and Chairman Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports, Rajendra Agrawal. On the occasion, Agrawal said technical institutions have more responsibilities towards our society and there is need to explore more employment options for our youth.
“We have to move beyond bookish knowledge and help our students in creating new employment opportunities in the region. They can focus in their local areas to ease the sufferings of people and help them in getting technology at their doorsteps,” he said.
Agrawal said there can be research on saffron, apple whether they can be grown in warm temperatures without compromising on their quality. We can preserve apple for more time or off seasons but there is less research on such technologies, he said.
Lok Sabha member, Gopal Narayan Singh said the main purpose behind the setting of NIT in Kashmir was aimed that it would bridge a gap between the people and technology.
“Each year, around hundreds of students complete their courses from NIT Srinagar and faculty members should train them in a way that can go back to their respective places in a way, they self sustain themselves and create more employment options,” he said.
While, Lok Sabha member, Vishnu Datt Sharma also suggested travel, tourism and food processing areas can be explored so that people can get benefit from such projects.
During the meeting, Lok Sabha Member, Ms. Arpita Ghosh urged Director NIT Srinagar that steps should be taken to encourage girl education on the campus.
While other members including T.N. Prathapan, Mr Dharambir Singh, Asit Kumar Mal, Gopal Narayan Singh, Dr Sasmit Patra, Jagannath Sarkar, Sangamlal Kadedin Gupta, Chandeshwar Prasad, Dr. Dhal Singh Bisen, S. Venkatesan, Dr Vinay P. Sahasrabuddhe, Vishambhar Prasad Nishad, Ms Arpita Ghosh, Santokh Singh Chaudhary, Sadashiv Kisan Lokhande, Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayulu and Ratansinh Magansinh Rathod suggested some points for research for the institute during the meeting.
Earlier, Director NIT Srinagar, Prof. (Dr.) Rakesh Sehgal welcomed the honorable members and termed their visit as a historic moment for the Institute. Later he presented a short introduction about the journey of the institute from year 1960’s to 2021.
Prof. Sehgal appraised the delegation that the institute offers B.Tech. Programs in 08 subjects, M.Tech. programs in 11 subjects, M.Sc. (Physics), M.Sc. (Chemistry), M.Sc. (TIED), MBA, M.Phil in departments of Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Humanities & Social Sciences, and Ph.D. programs in all the departments.
He said NIT Srinagar has also established five Centres including Water Resources Management Centre (WRMC), Central Research Facility Centre (CRFC), Computer Services Centre (CSC), Maintenance Engineering Centre (MEC), Innovation, Incubation, and Entrepreneurship Development Centre (IIEDC).
Regarding infrastructure, the Director NIT Srinagar said reviewed the damage caused by the 2014 devastating floods. There was a need for immediate repair and renovation of the campus which was carried out successfully with the help of various agencies, he said
“We have recently upgraded and renovated the library block with the latest RFID facility through PMDP funding. Construction of two new blocks of Pre-Fab hostel, Training and Placement Block and renovation of Cafeteria has been completed and put to use.” Prof. Sehgal said.
He also said new entry gate, auditorium, an additional block of girl’s hostel (120 Capacity), Guest House, Upgradation of Outdoor Sports Facilities, Construction of Mega Boy’s Hostel of 700 capacity under HEFA funding and landscaping of the entire campus is being pursued vigorously through CPWD.
Director NIT Srinagar said over the past several years, NIT Srinagar has signed many MoUs and collaborations with reputed Universities and Organizations across the globe.
Prof. Sehgal also said during COVID 19 pandemic, NIT Srinagar contributed by extending all possible help to UT administration, innovating low-cost ventilators, PPE Kits and carrying out a safety audit of oxygen plants of two major medical colleges and hospitals in the region.
Registrar NIT Srinagar, Prof. Kaiser Bukhari presented the vote of thanks to the committee for visiting the institute. He said that suggestions and views shared by the committee will be taken onboard for all-round development of the NIT Srinagar.
Prof. Bukhari assured the committee members that NIT Srinagar will work to exploring new innovational opportunities for people of the region and explore new dimensions in the technology.
