Bengal Needs It Varsity
The 21-member West Bengal Information Technology (IT) Task Force has recommended that the state government should encourage privately financed IT specific education and technical institutions and increase output of accredited IT professionals to at least 10,000 per year by 2005.
The state has set up an ambitious goal to realise 20 per cent of the National Software Export Target by 2005. For this, the state needs to shore up its education infrastructure in a big way. The IT Task Force has suggested that the state should promote a separate engineering/technology University by the end of 2000.
Currently, the five government-funded computer engineering colleges in the state together have only 340 seats at the degree level and the 12 private engineering colleges have total intake of 1570 students each year which puts the total number of students in computer engineering and allied fields from West Bengal at 1910 which is nowhere close to the industry requirements. This makes private participation all the more critical.
The state is also pitching in to set up the Indian Institute of Information Technology in Calcutta and also a branch of the proposed US $1 billion Global Institute of Science and Technology which is a brain child of a group of non-resident Indian techoprenuers from the Silicon Valley.
Currently, the huge demand for IT-related candidates are filled in by private institutes and partly by the state government's computer training centres in the districts whose total capacity will be increased to 30,000 trainees.
The IT Task Force has suggested that existing engineering degree colleges, Polytechnics and other specialised institutions can be encouraged to expand their intake for IT courses.
The state government has taken some steps in this direction with the introduction of computer science and technology, electronics and communication engineering degree courses in Kalyani Engineering College, Haldia Institute of Technology (Govt.aided) and at the privately-run Institute of Engineering and Management (private).
Five new private engineering colleges have been established in Asansol, Berhampore, Kolaghat, Bankura and Garia where along with other disciplines, Computer Engineering, Electronics and Communication Engineering and IT degree courses have been introduced. In addition, proposals have been sent to the AICTE for introduction of courses on IT in 11 institutions.
Private participation so far has been lukewarm with only Globsyn's Techno Campus setting up a finishing school in Salt Lake Electronic Complex (Saltlec) and the Usha Martin group planning to set up another.