Dhanbad

Dhanbad : The techies of Indian School of Mines (ISM) Dhanbad smeared colours and celebrated Holi ahead a week of the festival. It was the time to rejoice as the dreams of having IIT status thousands of techies comes true. The union government declared ISM to convert into IIT during the budget session on Saturday.

As the name of ISM declared for IIT tag on Saturday, hundreds of techies came out from the hostels to celebrate the moment.

Techies including girls congratulated to each other and rejoice the moment.

Later the celebration spontaneously converted into Holi and techies started smearing colours and gulals on each other.

“It’s a time of celebration for as our long awaited demand for IIT tag has been fulfilled,” said Swati, a B Tech second year student of ISM who was rejoicing the moment along with other techies.

The techies expressed gratitude to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister of Human Resource and Development (MHRD) Smriti Irani who took personal interest and initiated enough for converting the institution into IIT.

“We had trust on our Prime Minister as he is the man of action. He fulfilled his promise that he had done with the people of Dhanbad” said Shashank Shekhar, final year student of ISM who led the protest for IIT since last couple of years.

Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi during Lok Sabha election campaign had advocated for IIT tag to ISM. On April 15, Modi had stressed IIT tag to ISM during the public meeting at Kendua Children’s park in Dhanbad. Before it he had also stated the same during campaign at Chatra district.

According to ISM officials, Smriti Irani-led HRD ministry overruled an expert panel’s recommendation that had trashed the idea for IIT status to ISM.

Earlier a panel had been formed by MHRD to see what could be done to enable the institute to become IIT.

Later the panel in its report said that that ISM didn’t merit an entry into brand IIT on the basis of its educational and research inadequacy.

Comparing it with IIT Madras, the panel had said that while at ISM, 40 out of 250 of its faculty members were without PhDs, IIT madras had only one faculty member without a PhD. The report was also discussed at the IIT council (the highest decision making body of the IITs) meeting.

The techies of ISM left no stone unturned to get the tag for IIT. Since when the Prime Minister had advocated ISM for IIT status, the techies intensified their protests.

The issue gained momentum last year, when thousands of students to evoke started a series of protest.

Since June 2014, a series of protests started from Randhir Verma Chauk in Dhanbad to Jantar Mantar at New Delhi.

Students also met over two-dozen MPs and several ministers.

Over one thousand students had demonstration at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi at that time and had gotten huge support from the political leaders especially MPs across the country last year.