Nagpur University delay in executing MoU affects Laxminarayan Institute of Technology’s plans to start new courses

NAGPUR: Laxminarayan Institute of Technology (LIT) was planning to start new undergraduate (B.Tech) courses in biochemical and pharmaceutical engineering after it fully acquires the status of ‘unitary public university’. But the delay on the part of the Nagpur University administration in executing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to transfer its properties to Laxminarayan Institute of Technology as well has created a major stumbling block.

According to LIT officials, even the plan to change the name of LIT to Laxminarayan Innovation & Technological University is in jeopardy, Because the Maharashtra government has hardly made any progress in preparing the draft bill and presenting it to the cabinet.

The state Higher and Technical Education Department had directed NU and LIT to sign a memorandum of understanding for the transfer of NU’s property and other properties, including the examination section, and other departments located in the campus to LIT.

In the NU Management Council meeting dated 16th May also, the proposal to transfer all the properties, buildings and other properties in the Laxminarayan Institute of Technology campus to the latter was approved. Accordingly, a draft MoU was submitted to the NU Administration where it is pending for a very long time, the LIT officials have claimed.

There has been a delay on the part of both the government

NU officials have also told TOI that after the management council’s approval, the brass realized that the Laxminarayan Institute of Technology campus had teachers’ quarters and objected to their transfer. He also strongly opposed the transfer of the Nelson Mandela Hostel, which was originally intended for foreign students but was now given to students from NU departments.

According to LIT officials, the draft bill for LITU, Which was completely prepared on the lines of the College of Engineering, Pune, (COEP), was submitted to the State Law and Judiciary Department for rectification and clearance, where it is pending completion.

“To start new courses, we will need permission from AICTE. It will be approved only after the AICTE team inspects the facilities. There has been a delay on the part of both the government and the university. If LITU becomes a reality, we will start it in the first year itself. We have started work on revising the first-year syllabus. Once we become a unitary university, we will transfer the second, third, and fourth-year batches along with their credits to LITU in one go,” they said.

TOI was the first to report about the government’s plan to grant unitary university status to the Laxminarayan Institute of Technology, citing Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on March 10. “But we fail to become LITU in about two months, Then we will have to wait for the next academic session and all our hard work will go in vain,” LIT officials said.

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