a) BHU alumni association started a signature drive for online petition to support its cause for converting IT-BHU into an IIT. The petition got overwhelming response from students, alumni, faculty, administration and well wishers of the institute. Over 2,400 signatures have been collected so far. The petition was forwarded to the concerned government officials by Arvind Gupta (ECE 1992) and other Delhi based alumni. The petition is received by President, Prime Minister, HRD Minister, Dr. Karan Singh, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi and Mr. Rahul Gandhi. The petition and the signatures can be viewed on:
http://www.petitiononline.com/NewIITs/petition.html
An update on petition is posted on itbhuglobal.org:
http://www.itbhuglobal.org/archives/000738.html
b) The Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD) called a meeting of seven colleges on February 23rd at New Delhi. The meeting was attended by officials of all seven colleges, University Grants Commission and State govt. officials from West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. The meeting discussed about national level entrance exams, recruitment of faculty on all-India basis and willingness of state governments to give up controls on the respective colleges. Funding issue was also discussed; however, IIT issue was not discussed in the meeting. Our college is directly under MHRD control through UGC.