The district of Nainital has been in the forefront of
spiritual evolution in India.
However, the contributions of Nainital are not limited to spirituality. It has
also contributed in other significant areas. One of these is technical
education. The seeds of technical education in modern India were sown by the Indian Industrial
Commission at its Nainital Conference in 1907. It proposed two institutions -- one
at Roorkee for engineering and the other at Kanpur. As a result of this conference the
first two institutions offering technical education began in India. The one
at Kanpur is presently known as the Harcourt
Butler Technological Institute (HBTI) and the one at Roorkee evolved from the Thompson College
to Roorkee University and eventually the Indian
Institute of Technology at Roorkee.
However in recent decades Nainital has lagged behind in the
area. Until a few years ago, there were only two institutions offering
university level degree programs in engineering in Nainital District. One is
the Amrapali Institute of Technology and Sciences and the other the Birla
Institute of Technology and Sciences. This author has had the privilege of
serving as Director of the former and a member of the Board of Governors of the
latter. In the past few years it appears that a new university is also being
set up in the District to cater to technical education.
Unfortunately the standard of some of the newly set up
universities is not as good as it should be. A primary reason for this is the
shortage of qualified faculty and administrators, caused by the recent explosion
of higher education in India.
Until a few days ago there was also no easily available book or manual that
could provide guidance to such new universities during their founding stages.
This prompted the present author to publish a new book on the topic with the
title “How to create Excellent Universities” The book can be searched for under
that title at Amazon.com. It will prove to be a useful guide for any new
university. This author too would be glad to assist in anyway if called upon to
do so, especially in the Nainital or Jaipur Districts of India where
this author has special attachments and obligations.
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