Big-league pressure on Besu

Bengal Engineering and Science University is being upgraded to an Institute of National Importance, a status it might find hard to live up to in the league of the IITs and NITs.

Besu’s inclusion in the list — the bill is likely to be tabled in the next session of Parliament — guarantees the Shibpur institute freedom from the state government, access to a larger pool of funds and a new name. Quality isn’t assured, and there are examples of institutes being stuck in the rut after similar upgrades.

“The status of a central institute does not necessarily guarantee quality. In Bengal, there are central institutes like IIT Kharagpur, IIM Calcutta and ISI Calcutta, which are truly centres of excellence…. But at the same time, there is a central university like Visva-Bharati, which isn’t counted in the league of high-quality academic institutions,” a Jadavpur University professor pointed out.

So isn’t Besu, to be renamed the Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, Shibpur, ready to turn the corner yet?

“The biggest challenge is to bring about a qualitative change. Both the executive council and the court were packed with Left supporters. The erstwhile Left Front regime’s attempt to retain control over the institute resulted in a decline in academic standards and created conflict situations. We would need to start afresh and steer clear of political influence,” said a senior professor at Besu, which used to be a trailblazer in tech education before the IITs came into being.

Once Besu is formally upgraded, IIT-like statutes will govern it and rid the administration of state control. The director of the institute will enjoy more powers and the freedom to choose a path to excellence.

Like Presidency University, Besu would need to recruit teachers capable of not only improving the standard of pedagogy but also creating an environment for research befitting an Institute of National Importance.

“At present, the teacher student ratio at Besu is around 1:15 or more in some departments. In the IITs, the ratio is 1:10 or better. That’s the kind of benchmark Besu needs to set to be able to come close to creating an academic environment matching that of others in the league,” said an official of IIT Kharagpur.

The upgraded institute would also need to focus on infrastructure, an area where Besu glaringly lacks.

“Once it becomes an Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology, we might consider appointing a consultant to implement a time-bound plan to get infrastructure like buildings, labs and hostels ready,” said N.R. Bandopadhyay of the metallurgy and material sciences department.

An Institute of National Importance is defined as one that serves as a pivotal player in developing highly skilled personnel within the specified region of the country or the state. The Union human resource development ministry supports these institutes to develop them into centres of excellence in research and academics.

So far, 39 institutions — 15 IITs, 20 NITs, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi, the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology in Thiruvananthapuram and Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha in Chennai — have been conferred that status.