Pradipta Banerjee tells Sangeeta Yadav that IIT Roorkee has got all the ingredients that make it a perfect study destination for engineering students
What is the IIT Roorkee’s current ranking in India and abroadIJ
At present, we stand 56th in Asia and are among the top 10 institutes in India. IIT Roorkee’s citation index is the highest among all the IITs and is included among the top 100 in the world. Our entry rank for JEE has been going up every year. We’re the only IIT which has three campuses — in Roorkee, Saharanpur and at Greater Noida (which was the parting gift from the UP Government when University of Roorkee moved to Uttrakhand). We get around 2,000 applications for faculty posts out of which we interview around 200 and appoint the best 47 every six months for 20 departments.
Tell us about the student-teacher ratio at IIT RoorkeeIJ
The ratio would be around 1:12 although we have been striving to get it to 1:10 which I feel will be the ideal situation. Strict government policies increased our student numbers but we are working around it.
There was news that IIT faculty positions have been lying vacant because the faculty has not been paid well...
This is not true. We’re very particular about whom we take in as faculty. Supreme quality is fundamental to our ethos which we can’t compromise with. In less than two years, we have spent Rs 102 crore to upgrade our lab for research work. The faculties that we take in are people who have done their doctorate from abroad or have done significant research studies there. That’s the kind of people we want for our institute. And they are happy to be a part of this family.
The issue really is that of faculty members retiring. When I joined IIT Roorkee in 2011, I did a quick survey that by 2016, 89 of my faculty members are going to retire. So I’m going to lose 89 people by 2011.
Our faculty search committee is actively look around to fill these positions as soon as possible. By participating in international events, the visibility of IIT Roorkee is picking up. We meet prospective faculties at the conferences.
Tell us about your students.
We have around 8,200 students out of which 4,000 are under graduates, 1600 are doctorates and 2600 are masters students.
There are 12 UG programmes, 55 master level programme with specialisations. We provide doctorate in engineering only. These numbers are going to be same for the next five years. We aim to increase the quality of faculty and students and keep pushing the bar.
There were talks about 750 vacant seats at the IITs...
That is also not true. There were no seats vacant when our admissions were on. There were only 10 seats that needed to be filled up for BTech in Pulp and paper programme. Every other programme was full to capacity. But there was a huge fallout of students who did not turn up for the first day of the class. There were 83 students at IIT Roorkee who didn’t show up. We don’t keep seats empty which is why the IIT conducted a third round of counseling.
Also, 50 per cent of students who actually enter IITs are not interested in engineering. They have been pressurised by their family to do so.
What is the scholarship service all aboutIJ
We provide scholarships according to means cum merit basis. There are feeships in which all SC and ST students don’t have to pay tuition fee. There is book bank where our library gives away free books to those who can’t afford them. Recently, we have invested a crore and a half in buying books. Our scholarships are funded by institute, alumni and other external bodies.
Nobody who gets into IIT will not be able to study in IIT because they can’t afford it. last year, the student who was awarded for his performance in IIT Roorkee hails from a farmers family.
Tell us about the recent events at IIT Roorkee.
We have set-up three centres of excellence — for urban design and development, for packaging and for healthcare engineering.