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IIT (ISM) Dhanbad

Engineering institute in Jharkhand, India

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IIT Dhanbad is the third oldest institute (after IIT Roorkee, and IIT (BHU) Varanasi) which got converted into an IIT. It was established by the British Indian Government on the lines of the Royal School of Mines - London, and was formally inaugurated on 9 December 1926 by Lord Irwin, the then Viceroy of India. It started as an institution to impart education in mining and mineral sciences, and today, has grown into a technical institution with various academic departments. IIT (ISM) Dhanbad admits its undergraduate students through Joint Entrance Examination (Advanced), previously IIT-JEE and postgraduate from Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) examination.

On 25 May 2016, the Union Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Modi gave its approval to amend the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961 for conversion of ISM Dhanbad into an Indian Institute of Technology. The amendment was approved by Indian Parliament and upon Presidential assent, was notified in the Gazette of India on 10 August 2016.

History

The Indian National Congress at its XVII Session of December 1901 passed a resolution stating that:

The Indian National Congress is of opinion that a Government College of Mining Engineering be established in some suitable place in India on the models of the Royal School of Mines in England...

The McPherson Committee formed by Government of British India, recommended the establishment of an institution for imparting education in the fields of mining and geology, whose report, submitted in 1920 along with approach of Indian Mine Managers' of India in 1924, formed the main basis for establishment of the Indian School of Mines & Applied Geology at Dhanbad on 9 December 1926. From 1926 to 1946 it was led by Prof F. W. Sharpley.

The institute originally offered courses mainly in Mining Engineering and Applied Geology when it opened. In 1957, the institute began offering courses in Petroleum Engineering and Applied Geophysics and the name was changed to Indian School of Mines. Up to 1967, it was a government institute where the faculties were recruited through Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).

The school was granted university status by the University Grants Commission under the University Grants Commission Act, 1956 in 1967. Later courses in Mining Machinery Engineering and Mineral Engineering were started in 1975 and 1976 respectively. It was among the few institutes to start courses in Industrial Engineering and Management (in 1977), to cater to the needs of industries like metallurgy, mining and manufacturing.

From 1996 to 1997 the school came directly under the financial and administrative controls of Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India with pay scales and perks to its employees at par with that of Indian Institutes of Technology and Indian Institutes of Management. In 1997, the institute began admitting students through the IIT Joint Entrance Examination (IIT-JEE) conducted jointly by the IITs and ISM. In 1998 courses for Electronics Engineering and Computer Science and Engineering were introduced and in 1999, the institute started a bachelor of technology course in Mechanical Engineering.

In 2006, IIT (ISM) Dhanbad added 14 new courses, prominent among them being Electrical Engineering and a course in Environmental Engineering in the undergraduate curriculum. From 2006, IIT (ISM) Dhanbad also started offering Integrated Master of Science (Int. MSc) in Applied Physics, Applied Chemistry and Mathematics & Computing, and Integrated Master of Science and Technology (Int. MSc Tech) courses for Applied Geology and Applied Geophysics. In 2011, the institute offered a BTech programme in Chemical Engineering. The institute introduced Civil Engineering in 2013 and Engineering Physics in 2014.

Conversion to Indian Institute of Technology

While a proposal to upgrade ISM Dhanbad to an Institutes of National Importance had been put as early as 1994 by a Government Committee, no action was taken by the Government over this proposal.

A proposal for the conversion was included in the 12th Five year plan after its passage through the National Development Council (NDC), on 27 December 2012, and put across the IIT Council on 7 January 2013.

The Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, during his budget speech in Parliament on 28 February 2015, proposed to upgrade ISM Dhanbad into an IIT. On 25 May 2016, the Union Cabinet approved that a bill be introduced in Parliament for converting ISM Dhanbad into an IIT. On 19 July 2016 the Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Bill, 2016 was introduced into the Lok Sabha. It was passed by the Lok Sabha without opposition on 25 July 2016. The Rajya Sabha unanimously passed the Bill on 2 August 2016. The Bill got the Presidential assent and a Gazette notification was made on 6 September 2016, thus officially conferring Indian Institute of Technology tag to erstwhile Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad.

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