GTU TO GIVE RURAL GUJARAT A FACELIFT
he final year engineering and management students have been tasked with preparing roadmap for transforming villages; the report to be funded by education dept will be ready by March next year
Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Tuesday, August 21, 2012 (http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?page=article§id=2&contentid=2012082120120821022720355e2c7bb9f)
The students of Gujarat Technological University will prepare a blueprint for transforming rural areas in the state. Gujarat government and GTU have signed a memorandum of understanding under which final year management, engineering and architecture students will prepare a report on the holistic development of villages for which they will get credit and certificates.
As many as 340 villages from across the state have been selected for the pilot project, GTU Vice Chancellor Akshai Aggarwal told Mirroron Monday. The students will be ready with their report by March 2013, he said.
The project has been launched under the state government’s Vishwakarma Yojana that envisages improving the conditions in rural areas. “We will use the talent and potential of the students in planning and implementing rurban projects. While the Department of Education will fund the project, GTU will implement it,” said Principal Secretary in the department Hasmukh Adhia.
STUDENTS TO GET STIPEND
“The students will also get stipend and by next week we should be able to finalise the quantum,” Dr Adhia added. According to Dr Aggarwal, students from various streams will be involved so that they come up with a comprehensive plan.
“Management students will be expected to synthesise individual reports and integrate the socio-economic needs of the villagers in the final report. They will work on augmenting existing business and suggest new opportunities,” he said.
Students from civil engineering will look into civic needs. They will suggest plans to improve roads, waste water disposal and related issues. Similarly, electrical and mechanical students will look into areas of their interest. Architecture students will propose making living conditions better by making small changes, he added.
“All this will be done in consultation with the local people. Opinion of their elected representatives like village head and panchayat members will also be sought. Faculty members will supervise their work,” Dr Aggarwal said.
The villages selected for the pilot project are spread across the 26 districts of the state. Care will be taken to assign students to villages near their college so that they find it easier to commute to their areas on weekends and come back for classes on weekdays.
“It is a win-win for all. While it will be a great learning process for the students, the rural folks stand to gain a lot even if 80 per cent of what they suggest is implemented,” said Hiranmay Mahanta, GTU Innovation Council coordinator and managing director of Techpedia. The village transformation project is inspired by the success of the final semester industrial projects of the engineering students.
“Nearly 19,000 projects of the students found utility in the industry. Many of these were prepared by students from rural and suburban areas. This gave us the idea to harness the talent of our students in preparing a comprehensive plan for the development of rural Gujarat,” said Mahanta.
Last year, GTU had carried out similar project at Ahwa town of predominantly tribal district of Dangs. “The results were encouraging. Luckily for us, the initiative for the present programme came from the education department,” he added.
GTU students had earlier proved their utility when they were hired by civic bodies in their technical departments to fill in temporarily some vacancies.
Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Tuesday, August 21, 2012 (http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?page=article§id=2&contentid=2012082120120821022720355e2c7bb9f)
The students of Gujarat Technological University will prepare a blueprint for transforming rural areas in the state. Gujarat government and GTU have signed a memorandum of understanding under which final year management, engineering and architecture students will prepare a report on the holistic development of villages for which they will get credit and certificates.
As many as 340 villages from across the state have been selected for the pilot project, GTU Vice Chancellor Akshai Aggarwal told Mirroron Monday. The students will be ready with their report by March 2013, he said.
The project has been launched under the state government’s Vishwakarma Yojana that envisages improving the conditions in rural areas. “We will use the talent and potential of the students in planning and implementing rurban projects. While the Department of Education will fund the project, GTU will implement it,” said Principal Secretary in the department Hasmukh Adhia.
STUDENTS TO GET STIPEND
“The students will also get stipend and by next week we should be able to finalise the quantum,” Dr Adhia added. According to Dr Aggarwal, students from various streams will be involved so that they come up with a comprehensive plan.
“Management students will be expected to synthesise individual reports and integrate the socio-economic needs of the villagers in the final report. They will work on augmenting existing business and suggest new opportunities,” he said.
Students from civil engineering will look into civic needs. They will suggest plans to improve roads, waste water disposal and related issues. Similarly, electrical and mechanical students will look into areas of their interest. Architecture students will propose making living conditions better by making small changes, he added.
“All this will be done in consultation with the local people. Opinion of their elected representatives like village head and panchayat members will also be sought. Faculty members will supervise their work,” Dr Aggarwal said.
The villages selected for the pilot project are spread across the 26 districts of the state. Care will be taken to assign students to villages near their college so that they find it easier to commute to their areas on weekends and come back for classes on weekdays.
“It is a win-win for all. While it will be a great learning process for the students, the rural folks stand to gain a lot even if 80 per cent of what they suggest is implemented,” said Hiranmay Mahanta, GTU Innovation Council coordinator and managing director of Techpedia. The village transformation project is inspired by the success of the final semester industrial projects of the engineering students.
“Nearly 19,000 projects of the students found utility in the industry. Many of these were prepared by students from rural and suburban areas. This gave us the idea to harness the talent of our students in preparing a comprehensive plan for the development of rural Gujarat,” said Mahanta.
Last year, GTU had carried out similar project at Ahwa town of predominantly tribal district of Dangs. “The results were encouraging. Luckily for us, the initiative for the present programme came from the education department,” he added.
GTU students had earlier proved their utility when they were hired by civic bodies in their technical departments to fill in temporarily some vacancies.
