25 Eventful Years of Trials, Tribulations & Triumphs
“Give the world the best you have, and the best will come to you”, said the famous American poet Madeline Bridge.Looking at where
KIIT Deemed to be University stands today, I cannot but confess how true she was. Success has indeed come our way as we endeavored to set benchmarks. But we haven’t stopped at that. We need to aim higher!On the Silver Jubilee year of the institute, I am reminded of all the struggles and challenges encountered along the way to building this institution. KIIT did not develop overnight to become one of the best-known centers of learning in India. It was built brick-by-brick. It was the product of a determination, and a desire to provide the best education to students coming from all sections of Odisha. I dreamt about an institution that occupied a place of pride in the firmament of education. I gave the best I had in my quest to deliver the best. As we march ahead, the task is to sustain the momentum and work in tandem to attain greater excellence.
The genesis of KIIT:
Raised amid abject poverty, I knew the value of education to lead a meaningful life. Odisha during my younger days was struggling to get its feet together. Hunger and poverty had stymied growth prospects. A handful of educational institutes was all that could nurture human development in my State.The idea of KIIT took root during these days. The objective was to create opportunities, fill a critical void and develop a vibrant campus that supports talents, remains at the forefront of research and technological development, and weaves a new success story for Odisha. The task was overwhelming but not the resolve.Celebrated entrepreneur Walt Disney once said, “All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.” Such inspiring words became the bedrock of our mission to empower all through education.We dared to dream and dared to dream big. The KIIT Industrial Training Institute (KIIT-ITI) was the first post of our journey ahead. It was a small beginning, but a significant event to realize our larger objectives. Soon, we stepped into the higher education space and in June 1997, KIIT took shape as an institute of higher learning offering engineering, MBA, and MCA programs. The year 2004 proved a milestone for KIIT when it was declared a Deemed to be University. The decades that followed saw the incredible transformation of KIIT as one of the best educational destinations in India, wooing students from abroad in equal measures. Today, it is ranked among the 20 best universities in the country.As KIIT is celebrating the significant milestone of completing 25 years (1997 – 2022), it has become a trusted destination for professional education for students from all parts of India and over 65 countries. It has been consistently achieving academic accolades transforming itself into a world-class knowledge hub.The University has countless talents who not only are celebrated names in their respective domains, but they are also contributing to their nation’s growth as successful bureaucrats, professionals, entrepreneurs, and start-up leaders.
The KISS Story:
But we did not stop at that. We wanted the tribal communities to reap the fruits of the development process through education-led empowerment. Odisha cannot develop without empowering its indigenous groups who constitute 28 percent of the State’s population.I would often remember a memorable quote from Albert Einstein. “Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.”Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) was born out of this imagination – a commitment to mainstreaming the uninitiated indigenous children. Today, KISS is home to 30,000 students and enjoys the reputation of being the largest institute and the first-ever university exclusively for indigenous children in the world. It is a residential campus from end to end and offers education, boarding, and all amenities to children free of cost from the UG to PG. For many, it is more than an institute. It is a center that gives wings to their dreams.Since its inception, KISS has been respecting the diversity of indigenous languages and dialects. It has consistently focused on imparting classroom teaching in the mother tongue at elementary levels before transitioning to a common language. This one of its kind pioneering effort of KISS took a concrete shape in the form of Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education in 2013.The high point for KISS came very recently when it won the prestigious UNESCO King Sejong Literacy Prize 2022 for its outstanding literacy programme. There cannot be any bigger achievement for KISS than this. And there cannot be a bigger achievement for me as well than this award. In a way, this award has come as a vindication for me – that the best way for tribal uplift is through education.
KIIT-led economic growth:
The development of KIIT and its constituent units have heralded an unmistakable growth in the education space in Eastern India and contributed to the scaled-up economic activities. With the growing opportunities, the city of Bhubaneswar has expanded in its scale and scope along its northern belt.Much of the economic development is centred around this part of the city. It has acted as a magnet not only for big and small commercial enterprises, the institute has to a larger extent influenced the development of the IT hub around its periphery. Needless to say, thousands of direct and indirect employment opportunities it has created over the years.Today we are the pioneers in research, development, and innovation. The KIIT Technology Business Incubator (KIIT-TBI) is one of its kind in Odisha. It has incubated many hundred business entities out of which 160 have graduated to set up full-scale commercial enterprises generating 5000 direct jobs.
Unknown to many, KIIT is among only seven institutions in India selected by Boeing India for its Boeing University Innovation Leadership Development (BUILD) programme to boost aerospace entrepreneurship.Research and innovation are important hallmarks of a world-class university. KIIT has established 19 Centers of Excellence with industry to promote collaborative research. KIIT Faculty are actively involved in research and consultancy works attracting financial support to the tune of a few million dollars every year. Currently, nearly 100 research and consultancy projects funded by various national and international funding agencies like UBS Promedica Foundation, Switzerland; Karolinska Institute, Sweden; DST, DBT, MNRE, Govt. of India, Board of Research in Nuclear Sciences, etc. are ongoing with substantial budget outlay.
Outreach activities:
In a unique direct development action, KIIT has transformed a remote village (Kalarabank) in Odisha into a ‘Smart Village’ with all the modern amenities of a city. The Panchayat (Manpur) has also been developed as a Model Panchayat.The University is also spearheading women empowerment initiatives like ‘Kanya Kiran’, at the state level, and Kalinga Fellowship, at the national level.It is actively engaged in the Skilling India drive and has successfully merged academics with skill training to enhance the employability of the youth. The institute has provided skill training – both vocational and high-end – in a wide range of disciplines to over a lakh youths and facilitated their gainful employment and self-employment.Among its numerous community outreach projects, KIIT is facilitating developmental work in one aspirational district of Odisha. The University has also contributed immensely in the field of art, literature, culture, film, media, and spiritualism.
KIIT & KISS Success in Sports:
Both KIIT and KISS have produced students who have went on to represent India in major sporting events such as the Olympics, Asiad, and the Commonwealth Games. We have produced champions, gold medallists, and record-setting athletes. Our KISS Rugby team has even won the Junior Rugby World Cup.