SILCHAR, Nov 24 � President Pranab Mukherjee said that some of the National Institute of Technologies in the North East suffer from poor e-connectivity which needs to be addressed for better performance.
In his interaction with the Directors of the NITs during a recently held conference at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, Mukherjee has asked NIT Silchar to act as a resource centre for the NITs in the North East for early resolution of the problem. �I find that some NITs in the northeastern States have a problem with e-connectivity. Here, I would like to ask NIT Silchar, which has a robust fibre optic and wireless network, to act as a resource centre for the NITs in the North East for early resolution of the problem, say, within the next six to seven months,� the President said.
He also told Prof NV Deshpande, Director of NITS, that his Secretariat will render all kinds of assistance to the institute and that NIT Silchar should work with these institutions for accessing academic resources through ICT or connecting with resource persons from outside. Mukherjee added that an NIT Cloud for storage of academic material should be established at NIT Silchar. The other NITs in the North East could share this and other such resources with NIT Silchar.
An MoU with similar objectives, on behalf of all NITs in the North East, could be negotiated and signed with institutions in Singapore, Mukherjee said adding that the initiative will augment the �Look East Policy� and the Ministry of External Affairs, the Ministry of HRD and NIT Silchar should coordinate this initiative.
Meanwhile, Prof Deshpande said the institute, which is an old REC established in 1977, is forging ahead towards the goal of technological excellence with continuous research and development work and has become the preferred institute of North East India. �We are happy to receive such inspiring comments from the President of India. We will strive to deliver what we have been asked to do,� the Director said.
Prof Deshpande said the institute has an impressive recruitment status. �We have 3,000 plus students, 200 ICCR students. We have students from 11 different countries. Our initial position of faculty was 80, but now it is 136. Recently, we have completed our 4 Tier System of recruitment, and have around 31 new PhDs,� he said. He also added in his presentation that NITS is reaching to the local people. �We have taken up a telemedicine project and other projects so that the faculties also get social recognition.�
