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After an illustrated academic excellence at IIT Bhubaneswar, as director of the center of excellence, Prof Raja Kumar handed over the charge to the new director of the institute. Prof. Raja Kumar’s letter reads as below:
Prof Raja Kumar sends an adieu letter as director of IIT Bhubaneswar
Adieu upon handing over of charge of Director of IIT Bhubaneswar
Date: 5th April 2022
After completing my 5-year regular term as Director, IIT Bhubaneswar on 21st April 2020, I have been holding the charge for nearly two years as per the orders from the Ministry of Education. Upon a letter from the ministry, I handed over the charge to Prof V K Tewari, Director IIT Kharagpur on 2nd April 2022. From 2 months before the ending of my regular term, the much-needed recruitments could not be carried on at the institute going by the statutory limitations of a director in charge. I hope that now the recruitments can go on at the institute.
It has been a nearly 7-year (3 weeks short) long institutional creation opportunity to me and today it gives me immense satisfaction, a feeling of fulfillment, and a sense of achievement in the rendering of service to the nation, and I profusely thank the Ministry of Education for the same.
The institution has experienced phenomenal growth from the stage of operating from multiple temporary locations in the city then, to functioning fully in a magnificent permanent campus largely created during my tenure, now.
I started my journey as director with the single point objective of giving IIT Bhubaneswar a chance and put it on the course of becoming a cream of global class of institutes towards realizing the dream of the nation in that direction. While carrying on the institutional creating work, rising to commensurate standards was attempted successfully. Due to cooperation received from all the functionaries, standards at the institute in faculty recruitments, teaching-learning, translational research, governance, student placements and functioning of the institute could be very significantly raised. IIT Bhubaneswar has offered the best possible, uncompromised and resilient education and recent example of resilience is that it worked in digital mode during the pandemic, through several innovations and set a great example and served as a role model. Switching to online education with zero gap, a unique in-house developed online comprehensive examination system, hybrid laboratory practice, online yoga, online sports training etc., were some of the pioneering Digital initiatives. There was a multi-fold rise in the research, consultancy activity and very significantly on the translational component and 4 -fold rise in placements.
A magnificent wellness campus which may already be the best amongst all the institutions could be built. I had the privilege of being the planner and conceptual architect for it. A rare achievement for which all of us can be proud of is that we initiated creation much more built space in global standards than that is prescribed within the funds provided by the Central Government and the 942 acre campus provided by the state government and completed 80% of it.
The institute has been a pioneer in the Covid protection and returning to normalcy, all the students are on the campus, all the activities happening in full with physical presence and springing back as a vibrant IIT.
Very importantly we could run a very transparent system of administration with very high degree of integrity, financial or otherwise, and clean functioning without irregularities or factual complaints or controversies.
The institute had the rare honour of visits and addressing of the 6th Convocation by Shri Ram Nath Kovind, hon’ble President, in March 2018, and dedication of the campus to nation by Shri Narendra Modi, hon’ble Prime Minister in Dec 2018, happening in one year with the kind help of Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, hon’ble minister of education. I profusely thank all of them for this kind honour. I would also like to thank the kind support and visits to the campus by Shri Ganeshi Lal, Hob’ble Governor of Odisha, Shri Naveen Patnaik, hon’ble Chief Minister of Odisha and Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, hon’ble minister of education.
I have received an excellent cooperation and support from all the institute functionaries, the faculty, staff and students without which such a great journey could not have been possible and I thank all of them profusely for the same. I received excellent cooperation and support from members of the Board including the Chairmen, Finance Committee, other committees, officials of the ministry of education and government of Odisha and I express my gratitude for the same. Media has also largely given correct representation barring a few exceptions and I thank them all.
On this occasion I wish Prof Tewari and the institute, all the best and I wish that the institute will continue its development and assent and realize the dream. I already informed IIT Kharagpur my parental institute which was kind enough to grant me the lien to serve at IIT Bhubaneswar, mentioning that I will be reporting back in a couple of days.
Prof Raja Kumar
