STAMPED IMPRESSIONS
A centre of academic excellence
Reeta Sharma

POST-terrorism, Punjab’s glorious image of vigour and vitality has witnessed a change for the worse. However, one’s hope is rekindled when one comes across examples where the work on rebuilding the state is being taken up with utmost honesty. For one such example, I shall have to take you to Longowal village.

I revisited Longowal this week, after 18 years. From Zirakpur to Patiala, you find a concrete jungle coming up on both sides of the road. My eyes got a breather only when I was on the Sangrur road, which had lush green fields of wheat on its sides.
Finally, from Sangrur’s endless chaotic crossings, I was on the road to Longowal, which has an engineering institute, set up in memory of Sant Harchand Singh Longowal.

Sant Harchand Singh Longowal Central Institute of Engineering and Technology appeared like an oasis in the middle of the fields. Spread over 450 acre, it appeared like a gurukul, where students were studying without any distraction. Away from their homes, these students do not have access to glittering markets, cinema halls showing films full of violence, discoth`E8ques and pubs.

No wonder, these students are doing what they should be doing. They are studying with full concentration, participating in sports, breathing fresh air, and taking part in various other activities which help them enlarge their perspective. When I reached the institute, the students were preparing for a two-day interaction with hundreds of delegates, who were arriving from all over the country to attend the National Conference on Women in Development Processes. Each student was assigned some responsibility. Each delegate was being received by them without any supervision of teachers.

The responsibilities of the students included receiving the delegates and escorting them to their respective rooms, decorating the venue, distributing the schedule of the programme, taking care of the meals, participating in the interactive sessions, decorating the stage for lectures and a dance performance by Shovana Narayan. One more distinctive feature was the spontaneous enthusiasm and willingness writ large on their glowing faces.
The institute, established in 1989, is managed and financed by the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development. The certificate and diploma courses were introduced in 1991 and the degree courses in 1993. The post-graduate courses were started in 2002. The Director, R. C. Chauhan, says efforts are on to grant the institute the status of a deemed university. The institute has 2,400 students, including 400 girls. The campus has a magnificent green cover, provides housing and hostel facilities to boys and girls as well as accommodation for the visiting faculty.

The dedication of the faculty and leadership of the Director have not only ensured impressive academic results but also helped the students in personality development.

For instance, Vikas Garg from the Department of Mechanical Engineering of this institute has become the first Indian student to win the American Welding Society’s scholarship of $900. Similarly, Navneet, from the same department, has scored 99.12 per cent, thus beating earlier records. Adding glory to the institute are three more students, Abhey, Alok and Atul, who jointly won the second prize of Rs 25,000 in a "working model" exhibition held at Pragati Maidan.

The achievements of the students of this institute are endless. But let me mention just one more: 20 students have cleared GATE (Graduate Aptitude Test for Engineering). The students who pass out from this institute are trained to take up self-employment, particularly in remote and rural areas. The undergraduate and post-graduate courses range from computer science to food technology. In the past five years, over 1,200 students have graduated from here, all in first division. The institute has a well-equipped library and research and reference section with audio-visual aids, journals, books, etc.

Given the economic situation of Punjab and the increasing unemployment, this institute provides a glimmer of hope that students coming out of it would contribute to the positive and sustainable development of the state.