MNNIT all set to take over NRIPT

MOTILAL NEHRU National Institute of Technology (MNNIT) is all set to take over the only printing technology institute of North India—the prestigious Northern Regional Institute of Printing Technology (NRIPT) soon.

Following a request from the UP Government, MNNIT's highest decision making body, the Board of Governors (BoG), has already given a green signal to the take-over and the Deemed University has formed a special committee to work out the modalities of a formal merger.

"The policy decision to take over Northern Regional Institute of Printing Technology situated at Teliyarganj has been taken.

A request in this regard was made to us by the state government and acting on it we sought an approval from our BoG that gave us the go ahead in its December 2005 meeting," informed MNNIT Director, Prof Arun Baran Samaddar in an exclusive chat with HT Allahabad Live.

It is worth mentioning that the Government of India on the recommendation of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) had in 1956 established four Regional Institutes of Printing Technology in the country located at Allahabad, Bombay, Calcutta and Madras for imparting diploma education in Printing Technology.

The NRIPT, Allahabad, caters to the manpower needs of the printing industry located in the Northern region, comprising States of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi and Chandigarh.
The NRIPT is currently  under the administration of the UP Directorate of Technical Education.

However, it is reportedly reeling under a severe financial crunch at the moment.
Prof Samaddar informed that MNNIT has decided to take over NRIPT along with its students, staff members and teachers. "We plan to keep running the ongoing diploma programme for the moment and gradually phase it out by introducing a BTech course in Printing Technology and Media," he added.

Prof Samaddar said that a committee comprising senior MNNIT teachers including Prof Satish Chandra (Mechanical Engineering department), Prof AK Mishra (Computer Science Engineering department), Prof Rakesh Narain (Mechanical Engineering department) and Institute Registrar RP Tiwari has been formed to work out the modalities of the take-over.

"The main impediment in the merger is the issue of employees of NRIPT particularly teachers who will need to fulfil MNNIT's eligibility criterion for retaining the posts under the Deemed University fold.

This is presently being looked into," informed one of the members of the MNNIT committee Prof Rakesh Narain. On the possibility of the state government backing out at the last moment from the merger, Prof Narain said, "We are determined to start a BTech course in Printing Technology and Media by 2007 as per the clearance from the BoG. Even if the take-over somehow does not materialise, we will start a course at our institute itself," he said.

NRIPT''s acting principal CD Ram informed that at the moment the institute has 32 sanctioned posts including one principal, three heads of departments, 12 demonstrators, 12 lecturers, eight instructors. "Out of these, the post of principal, the three heads and most of the lecturers are lying vacant. Our annual intake of students for the three-year diploma course in printing technology is 60 and the institute has a unique distinction of attaining 100 per cent placement for the students," he said while feigning ignorance over the take-over decision.

Sources at NRIPT revealed that salaries of the employees and teachers have not been paid for the past two months and its infrastructure is deteriorating day by day that has resulted in it being the only Institute out of the four established in 1956 that is not offering a BTech course.