April 15, 2023 

Shri Dharmendra Pradhan
Minister of Education; and
Minister of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship
Room No. 516, Shram Shakti Bhawan, Rafi Marg
New Delhi – 110001, India

Dear Shri Pradhan:

We, the alumni, faculty members, staff, and students of Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST), Shibpur (erstwhile BE College) are really saddened to see the continuous deterioration of the institute as reflected in the steady decline in NIRF ranking (19th to 40th from 2019 to 2022) in the last three years.  You are surely aware of the evolution of IIEST as an Institute of National Importance (INI) from a state institution and its contribution towards the expansion of technical education in India, but we are summarizing the facts that were considered for choosing this heritage institution to be the top candidate for conversion to an INI and why a new type of INI was created to be known as IIEST.

IIEST, Shibpur (erstwhile BE College) is the second oldest engineering college of India established in 1856 under Calcutta University.  This institution was the first to start a 2-year Master of Engineering, post-graduate program in the year 1951. The two other institutions that started a postgraduate program in engineering were IISc, Bangalore and IIT, Kharagpur, but those were 1-year programs. 

From 1945, this institution played a major role in preparing the proposal for establishing the four (4) original IITs.  Prof S R Sengupta, the then Principal of Bengal Engineering College (B E College) as Secretary of the ‘Sarkar Committee’ constituted by the British Government in 1945 to suggest modernization of technical education in India, was a major contributor to the report. The Sarkar Committee’s report put forward the concept of the IITs.

In 2003 the MHRD under NDA1 appointed a one-man committee with Prof S K Joshi who was requested to examine the existing well-known engineering institutions and suggest additional measures, necessary for their conversion to be Central Government (CG) institutes. Prof Joshi examined the status & performance of all the major institutions (~40) and identified seven (7) institutions/universities for further detailed examination of the institutions for necessary action.

In 2005 MHRD set up a three-member committee with Prof. M Anandakrishnan (former VC, Anna University) as convenor and Profs. Amitabha Ghosh (Former Director, IIT Kharagpur) together with D V Singh (Former VC, Roorkee University) as members. The committee was entrusted with the task of visiting the seven (7) institutions/universities identified by Prof. Joshi, to study and evaluate their performances and make suitable recommendations for conversion of the deserving institutes.

The committee visited all the institutions and discussed with the administration, faculty, students and the employees. The institutions were requested to submit all necessary information and data. Later at IIT, Kanpur, the committee members spent a substantial amount of time in analyzing the data and other information related to those institutions. 

Noticing the gradual decline of interest in higher technical education among the engineering students in the IITs and other important institutions, and  considering the need of manpower with research experience to serve the requirements of  India the committee suggested converting some of the visited institutions to a new class of  post-graduate institutions offering 5-year dual degree programs and PhD programs in  engineering and science; the Committee named the transformed institutions as Indian  Institute of Engineering Science and Technology.

Bengal Engineering and Science University, Shibpur (BESU) (erstwhile BE College),  was at the top of the list and became the first institution to be converted to IIEST, Shibpur through the amendment of NIT Parliament Act in 2014 March. The VC of the erstwhile BESU was asked to continue as the Director of IIEST, Shibpur. In 2018 a professor of IIT BHU was selected as the Director whose term will be over in May 2023. 

Unfortunately, the real transformation of BESU to IIEST has not taken place and the Institute is suffering because of the decision to keep the transformation of BESU to a post-graduate institution in abeyance and lack of funding approved by the parliament. This has severely affected the institute’s performance as an IIEST in its true sense and spirit.  We have discussed with the director and Chairman, BOG, as to what is necessary to restore the reputation of the institute, but nothing has been achieved. The management style of the present administration has created a lot of resentment and animosity among many stakeholders of the institute.

The Institute urgently needs a visionary and dynamic person as the Director who can complete the task of real academic transformation as desired by the Parliament of India. S/he must have the vision to reverse the deteriorating trend of an institution of higher learning and turn-around. It is desirable that the new Director has the proven ability and expertise to bring back its past standing in the Indian academic world. It cannot be accomplished by routine administration. In this matter, we request your personal intervention to appoint such a person as the Director of IIEST. May we request you to set up an expert committee to review the state of affairs in the institution, identify the shortcomings and recommend strategies to address them? In the meantime, would you be kind enough to approve the release of part of the fund approved by the parliament for upgradation of the academic and infrastructural facilities? We are sure that the MED under your leadership will not allow this heritage institution to perish for lack of government support and pass into oblivion. Our urgent appeal to you to help us to restore IIEST’s past position in the technical education of India. 

Thanks

Sincerely,