Engineers in the new India
Engineers in the new India
The Republic of India needs thousands of technicians for the many industries now developing all over this huge sub-continent. To try to meet part of these enormous needs the Indian Government has set up five regional technological institutes. One of these top-level engineering schools is the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay.
As part of its technical assistance programme, Unesco has given India large-scale aid in setting up the Bombay institute. In 1955, an agreement was signed to enable Unesco to use a contribution in roubles by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics to the United Nations Technical Assistance Fund to aid the institute. It was foreseen that aid amounting to $3.5 million would be provided over five years, but assistance has actually amounted to over $4.5 million. In addition, the Soviet Union has donated equipment worth three million old roubles. On its side, India has spent an estimated $10 million on the institute, more than doubling the international aid received.
Soviet specialists have helped the Indian Ministry of Education in working out a project for the institute, including workshops and laboratories. The Indian Government undertook the full task of building the institute and Unesco provided equipment for the main laboratories and workshops and helped to organize academic and scientific activities.
From these combined efforts a university city has sprung up on the shores of Lake Powai, in an area where signs still warn swimmers of the danger of crocodiles. The institute is located 18 miles from the heart of Bombay on a site that only seven years ago was a jungle wilderness.