Panji, Sep 9 (Herald): Even as preparations for development of the National Institute of Technology Goa campus, backed by the State government is going ahead full steam, at national level the institute is in troubled waters, hit by problems of getting good quality faculty.
Union Minister of State for Human Resources Development Shashi Tharoor, admitted in the Lok Sabha earlier last month that the shortage was due to retirement, resignations and "non-availability of suitably qualified people."
2166 positions are to be filled up in the NITs as against the sanctioned 6,425 posts and institutions are not able to run certain courses for want of faculty.
The government has published section 4 of the land acquisition Act to acquire over 6.9 lakh square metres of land in Cuncolim. However, the project has been hit by opposition from locals who are objecting not to the NIT itself but the site.
The Human Resources Development Ministry has said that a large number of faculty positions in top technical institutions, such as NITs, IITs, and IIMs are vacant, and have indicated that this could be remedied by offering higher salaries.
As many as 4521 posts of teachers in the Indian Institutes of Technology are lying vacant as against the sanctioned strength of 11,920 while Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) that have the sanctioned strength of 747 faculty are struggling to fill up 156 vacancies while 114 of the 520 posts in the Indian Institute of Science, and 81 out of 240 posts in the Indian Institute of Information Technology are also lying vacant.
Sources said the faculty crunch occurred after the government notified 27 per cent OBC quota in 2008-09 and asked the institutions to increase the seats to accommodate candidates under this quota.
The hurry for setting up a new NIT is being questioned by certain sections which say that they have no problem with the college ~ they are not against it; but are objecting to the location.
It is on a hill where there are lot of trees says Oscar Martins, a local. Others also point out that the Goa University has so much land and this could ideally be given to such institutions.
The battle for development versus land is an old one especially in a small State like Goa.
This NIT was one of 10 newly set up NITs during the 11th Five Year Plan by the Ministry of Human Resources Development. During its initial years, it was mentored by National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal and is presently functioning from Farmagudi, Ponda.
The proposal to set up the NIT in Cuncolim has been called a scam by activists and Cuncolim Municipal Council has warned the State to drop the project or face a protest movement. The CMC has also challenged the land acquisition process.