The COVID-19 restrictions necessitating prolonged virtual interface for teaching-learning has, in a way, facilitated the Indian Institute of Information Technology-Tiruchi (IIITT), to expedite infrastructure work taken up under the first phase.
Though online classes are going on for students of all four years, the institution has readied the administrative block, hostel and mess buildings for utilisation any time once the offline classes start.
For the last two years, the construction activities were carried out in a hassle-free manner since the Central Public Works Department undertaking the task had gone in for prefabricated construction.
One among 21 IIITs started under non-profit public-private partnership model by Ministry of Human Resource Development, the institution of national importance is fully funded by the union government, the State government and industry partners in the ratio of 50:35:15. The industry partners constitute Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTS), Infosys, Ramco Systems, ELCOT, and Navitas (TAKE Solutions).
The Infosys is in the process of constructing a hostel for girls with an accommodation capacity of 200.
Moving into the permanent campus, according to the faculty members, was imperative for starting more programmes or initiating incubation activities.
Currently, the institution offers two UG programmes of four-year duration: B.Tech in Computer Science and Engineering, and Electronics and Communication Engineering; and two PG progammes of two-year duration: M.Tech in Computer Science and Engineering, and VSLI Systems, besides Ph.D. programmes.
The IIIT-Tiruchi, a senior faculty member said, is in a position to earmark space in the Academic Block to accommodate industry partners for incubation.
So far, the institution had constraints in expanding its student strength as it was operating on temporary campuses. From last June, the institution started operating from the permanent campus at Sethurappatti, after shifting out from the temporary campus within the premises of Oxford Engineering College campus, Tiruchi, where it functioned for nearly a year. Since 2016 the institution functioned on the premises of National Institute of Technology - Tiruchi before moving to the temporary campus.
Under the second phase, the IIIT-Tiruchi plans to construct a multi-purpose hall. A proposal has been submitted to the State government, institution sources said.
