PM dedicates IIT, IISER in Tirupati to the nation

Tirupati: Prestigious institutions of national importance IIT and IISER set up in Tirupati as part of the AP Reorganisation Act-2014 were formally dedicated to the nation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi through video conferencing from Jammu on Tuesday.

Initially they were set up in two transit campuses and started functioning from 2015 while the construction of the new campuses was going on. Though they moved to the permanent campuses in recent times, the formal inauguration was made on Tuesday by the Prime Minister. On this occasion, both IIT and IISER have made special arrangements to take part in the video conference of the Prime Minister.

At the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Tirupati, Deputy Chief Minister K Narayana Swamy and Director Prof K Satyanarayana took part while Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy participated virtually from his camp office in Tadepalli. The Prime Minister congratulated the institute for its achievements and vision. He also highlighted the importance of innovation and research for the development of the nation and the world. Students and faculty attended the event.

In 2014, the TDP government allocated 540 acres of land to IIT Tirupati near Yerpedu while the Central government has allocated Rs 850 crore for the construction of the permanent campus. Apart from college buildings, hostels, laboratories, library and other amenities were provided.

For the permanent campus of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Tirupati, the State government has allocated three parcels of land totalling 255.09 acres at Yerpedu in 2016. The Union Cabinet has approved a total outlay of Rs 1,437.91 crore for construction, equipment, furniture and information network infrastructure in the permanent campus.

The Institute offers BS-MS programmes and PhD programmes in the areas of Biology, Chemistry, Earth and Climate Sciences, Mathematics and Physics in addition to carrying out cutting edge research. The Institute proposes to commence new departments in the frontier areas of Data Science, Material Science, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Agricultural and Plant Sciences. District Collector Dr G Lakshmisha and Tirupati MP Dr M Gurumoorthy along with IISER Tirupati Director Prof Santanu Bhattacharya and former Director Prof KN Ganesh took part in the PM’s video conferencing. Speaking on the occasion, the Collector stressed that the students must pave the way forward as they are the future builders of the nation. MP Gurumoorthy said that the YSRCP government has shown its commitment to higher education in the State by creating an enabling environment to nurture all the new institutions that were started in the State after its reorganisation in 2014 and this is visible when institutions like this come up and make rapid progress in a short time. Deputy Registrar (Administration) Inderpreet Singh Kohli and others

were present.