Ladakh: IITs exploring feasibility of setting up engineering college in Kargil

Kargil: A high-level team of IIT directors on Monday visited here to examine the feasibility of establishing an engineering college in this district of Ladakh, officials said. The team comprised of directors IIT-Delhi, Prof V Ramgopal Rao, IIT-Bombay Prof Subhasis Chaudhuri and IIT-Kanpur Prof Abhay Karandikar. The team interacted with officials and students to explore the fellowship opportunities for students of the Union Territory in various IITs also, the spokesman said.

Addressing the meeting, Rao said Lieutenant Governor Ladakh R K Mathur during his recent visit to the IIT-Delhi discussed the possibility of setting up an engineering college in Kargil. “The purpose of the visit of the team is to know the ground reality about the feasibility for establishment of an engineering college in the district and to assess the students’ interest in the field of engineering,” he said.

Professor M Balakrishnan of the Computer Science and Engineering Department of the IIT-Delhi spoke about challenges being faced by students in remote areas and stressed that students should go outside for studies to gain exposure and more opportunities. While responding to the questions of the students, the IIT-Bombay director spoke about different branches of engineering and career prospects therein.

Prof Karandikar spoke about the annual fellowship programme in IITs, incubation and innovation programme and internship with the IITs for the students of Ladakh. Later, the team of directors also visited the Government Degree College, Kargil, where the vice principal apprised them about the overall functioning and different courses being imparted at the college.

He said about 2,000 students are presently enrolled in the college while 30 permanent and 23 contractual teaching assistants are rendering their teaching services in the college. The team interacted with the students of the college and also of the Government Polytechnic College, Kargil and informed them about various aspects of the fellowship component, the officials said.

They also solicited feedback about their interest in fellowship programmes, he added. Earlier, Kargil’s chief education officer apprised the team of the enrolment of school students in the district. He said that 32,000 students are studying in various schools in the district, out of which 3,000 are pursuing their studies in the science stream. The CEO also said there are at present 22 government and two private higher secondary schools functioning in the district.

The officials said the IITs are partnering with the Department of Higher Education, Ladakh to review various aspects of technical education to increase opportunities for the youths of the Union Territory on employment and entrepreneurship. The partnership is aimed at exploring ways to promote innovation and entrepreneurship focused on the local ecosystem, skill development for enhancing employment opportunities, enhancing the quality of education for increasing higher education opportunities and also for setting up a quality engineering institution in Ladakh, they said.

They said an 'Expression of Interest' which will be finalised based on the outcome of the various meetings with the stakeholders, was expected to be signed between the Consortium of IITs and the Department of Higher Education, Ladakh in presence of the Lt Governor of Ladakh on September 22. The detailed action plan with timelines will be further drawn up based on the signed EoI, the officials said.

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