NEW DELHI: To solve the problem of overcrowded classrooms following the OBC reservation, IIT Delhi has decided to come up with a new academic

block on its campus. The six-storeyed block will have state-of-the-art lecture halls with a seating capacity of up to 250. The construction work is expected to begin by the end of September.

Classes at IITD have been running to a `packed house' ever since the OBC reservation was first implemented last year. Of the total 27% OBC quota, 9% quota was implemented each in the 2008-09 and 2009-10 session. The size of each batch had become too large to be seated in a single room. As a result, the faculty had to divide the batch into small sizes to be taught by turns. The new block is now being set up to ease this pressure on the existing infrastructure and also the faculty.

Said Prof S M Ishtiaque, deputy director, administration, "The academic block will only have large classrooms which will have a seating capacity of 100, 150 and 250. The students in the first year and the third semester will be mainly taught in these classrooms because their batch sizes are large.'' He added that the new block is expected to take at least 18 months to be completed.

According to Prof Ishtiaque, the new air-conditioned classrooms will have connectivity with the other IITs, enabling the sharing of lectures in real time. "The IITs are being interconnected under the MHRD's project called National Knowledge Networking. For instance, if a lecture is going on in IIT Madras, the students in IIT Delhi will be able to see it in their classrooms. The new rooms will have this facility.'' He also said that the students of IIT Punjab will specially benefit from this facility as it is being mentored by IIT Delhi. The new classrooms will also be equipped with LCD projectors and sound absorption system.

The new structure is being constructed at a cost above Rs 100 crore sanctioned by the MHRD for the expansion of infrastructure. It will come up behind the existing textile department on the campus. The textile department will also be demolished and shifted to the new block. As per the other plans of expansion for implementing the OBC reservation, a new hostel for girls as been constructed on the campus while the work on another boys' hostel in underway.

source:TOI