The Haryana government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Edutech Informatics India Private Ltd, an IT education and training provider, in the first week of July for setting up IIIT-Haryana. "We are chosen as the first partner by the state government," says Pradeep Tripathi, managing director, Edutech Informatics. "And we are not the only ones. A number of other private organisations will also be associated with the project. Talks are on with leading computer software and hardware companies like Sun Microsystems, Lotus, IBM, etc."

While the demand for qualified and trained professionals in the IT industry, both in India and abroad, is on the rise, the paucity of seats in university engineering colleges and IITs has put a tab on their supply. Taking note of this, the Union minister for information technology, Pramod Mahajan, revealed a few months ago that the government would explore avenues to set up technical education centres, involving private organisations, across the country. The government of Haryana has made the first attempt towards that end.

The idea of developing the joint effort institution originated at Edutech Informatics. The state government not only accepted its proposal, it also chose the company as its first partner in the project, and asked it at the same time to look out for other partners.

Tripathi says, "Apart from the multinational software development companies, a number of medium scale, non-IT companies have also evinced interest in being associated with the project. We are also in parleys with industry associations."

But there is a hitch. The Haryana government wants IIIT-Haryana to be set up as a deemed university over which it will enjoy governing control. "But we want the IIIT to be set up as a stand-alone institute and training centre for information technology. In that case, we can rope in more corporates to run the show," quips Tripathi.

IIIT-Haryana will offer graduate and post-graduate courses in information technology of 3-4 years' duration. "For the Bachelor's degree, the course structure we have proposed has two layers. In the first year, the pupils will be taught only the basics of information technology; the next two years are meant for specialisation in a particular line and doing dissertation projects," Tripathi elaborates.

According to Tripathi, Edutech Informatics will provide 25-30 per cent of the faculty for the institution; the rest will come from other IT companies that will be involved in the project and visiting faculty. IIIT-Haryana will also go in for foreign university validation.

But things are yet at the preliminary stage. Once the institute materialises physically at Gurgaon, Haryana, Edutech Informatics plans to approach other state governments, such as Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, with its IIIT proposal. A sound idea, and one that deserves a fair hearing.