Loliem in Canacona will soon see an Indian Institute of Technology coming up in its backyard, thanks to the decision by the central government to give approvals to six new IITs across the country. The institute will start operations from this academic year itself, functioning out of a temporary campus, in this case the Goa Engineering College, for the next three years until its permanent campus is ready. IIT Goa will be mentored by IIT Mumbai.
Former chief minister and current defence minister Manohar Parrikar, himself an IIT alumnus, tweeted that Goa is one step closer to becoming a knowledge centre. That isn’t far from the truth, but there is a lot of work and thought that needs to take place before this tiny State can even hope to stand tall next to stalwarts in the educational space, like Pune, Mangaluru and Bengaluru. The State has many colleges that function in the engineering and technology space, namely the National Institute of Technology, Goa Engineering College, PCCE and others, including BITS Goa. Of course, an IIT is a step above all of this.
The State government is working hard to expedite the process of land acquisition so that the building of the campus may start. An IIT is a government institute, so acquiring large plots of land will not be that tough, but there is still a large amount of land that will be required. The smallest IIT in India functions on 320 acres of land, the largest is IIT Kharagpur, has a campus of 2100 acres. If Goa has to become an education hub, most colleges will need to have fully functional campuses that house more than just a building for classes to be held.
Most of the existing colleges here in Goa function on relatively small campuses and their student bodies consist of day scholars. Nearly all their students are from within the State itself. BITS is the only institute in the tech space, built on 180 acres of land and has living quarters, shopping centres and more, which has students from elsewhere in the country and beyond. There are just a handful of institutes, like Indian Institute of Hotel Management (IHM), GIM, GMC, GEC, NIT and a few others, which will have a smattering of students from elsewhere. But Goa has to get to that point where students want to come to Goa to study, across different fields, just like in Pune or Mangaluru, where every single institute has a large percentage of students who live there and study.
This has its advantages. There will be good business in rentals, shopping establishments near colleges, transport and other verticals. There will also be good business in food and beverage, as well as party establishments, because let’s face it, these are youth who like to let their hair down on the weekends or even through the week. Of course, a rise in income for nightclubs is not the main reason why Goa needs to better its brand image in the education sector. For that to happen, the State will have to encourage homegrown institutes to expand their horizons, as well as invite others from outside.
But the bigger challenge thereafter is to retain the talent that does pass out from the State. For that the government has to work with businesses to provide jobs. An educational hub is the dream. An IIT is a step closer to reality.
