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In 1946, a committee was set up by Sir Jogendra Singh , Member of the Viceroy's Executive Council, Department of Education, Health and Agriculture to consider the setting up of Higher Technical Institutions for post war industrial development in India. The 22-member committee headed by Sri N. R. Sarkar , in its report, recommended the establishment of four Higher Technical Institutions in the Eastern, Western, Northern and Southern regions, possibly on the lines of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, with a number of secondary institutions affiliated to it. The report also urged the speedy establishment of all the four institutions with the ones in the East and the West to be started immediately. The committee also felt that such institutes would not only produce undergraduates but they should be engaged in research, producing research workers and technical teachers as well. The standard of the graduates should be at par with those from first class institutions abroad. They felt that the proportion of undergraduates and postgraduate students should be 2:1.
In accordance with these recommendations of the Sarkar committee, the first Indian Institute of Technology was established in May 1950 in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal.
Initially, the IIT started functioning at 5, Esplanade East, Calcutta and very soon shifted 120 km south east to Hijli , Kharagpur in September 1950. The present name 'Indian Institute of Technology' was adopted before the formal inauguration of the Institute on August 18, 1951, by Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad.
IIT Kharagpur is possibly the only major technical institution in the world that started life in a prison house. IIT Kharagpur started in the pre-independence Hijli Detention Camp where freedom fighters were imprisoned and executed. The office building at the camp, which during World War IIWorld War II was the most extensive and costly armed conflict in the history of the world, involving the great majority of the world's nations, being fought simultaneously in several major theatres, and costing tens of millions of lives. The war was fough served as the headquarters of the 20th Bomber Command of the United StatesThe United States of America also referred to as the United States U. America đ or the States is a federal republic in central North America, stretching from the Atlantic in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. It shares land borders with Canada in 20th Air Force , initially housed classrooms and the library. It is has now been converted into the Nehru Museum.
Pandit Nehru in his first convocation address in 19561956 is a leap year starting on Sunday. see link for calendar) Events January January 1 End of Anglo- Egyptian Condominium in Sudan. January 16 President Gamal Abdal Nasser of Egypt vows to reconquer Palestine January 26 1956 Winter Olympic Games open in said "Here in the place of that Hijli Detention Camp stands the fine monument of India, representing India's urges, India's future in the making. This picture seems to me symbolical of the changes that are coming to India."On September 15September 15 is the 258th day of the year (259th in leap years). There are 107 days remaining. Events 608 Saint Boniface IV becomes Pope 921 Saint Ludmila is murdered at the command of her daughter-in-law at Tetin. 1514 Thomas Wolsey appointed Archbishop, 19561956 is a leap year starting on Sunday. see link for calendar) Events January January 1 End of Anglo- Egyptian Condominium in Sudan. January 16 President Gamal Abdal Nasser of Egypt vows to reconquer Palestine January 26 1956 Winter Olympic Games open in, the Parliament of IndiaThe Parliament of India is bicameral. The lower house is the Lok Sabha (House of the People). Its 552 members are nearly all directly elected. The upper house is the Rajya Sabha (Council of the States). It has 250 members, most of whom are elected by the passed an act known as the Indian Institute of Technology(Kharagpur) Act declaring this institute as an Institute of National Importance. It was also given the status of an autonomous university.
From its modest start in 1950, IIT Kharagpur has been engaged in a steady process of development and now has 29 academic departments, centres and schools and 17 hostels (called "Halls of Residence", or just Halls). The 2100 acre campus is a self contained township of over 15,000 inhabitants. Currently IIT kharagpur has about 450 faculty, 2200 employees and 2700 students on the campus.