Indian Railways’ National Rail and Transportation Institute: Gujarat government recently announced allotment of 31 hectares of land in Vadodara district at concessional rate for setting up the country’s first railway university. Gujarat’s Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel said that the decision to allot the land for permanent campus of the varsity at 50% of the market rate in Waghodia taluka was taken during the Cabinet meeting chaired by Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani. The railway university – National Rail and Transportation Institute (NRTI), is one of the pet projects of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
According to Patel, the land allotted for the railway university will be utilized for construction of various academic buildings, a hostel as well as a training centre. At present, the university operates from its temporary location in the premises of Pratap Vilas Palace in Vadodara city, located nearly 130 km from Gandhinagar. The railway university opened its doors to the first batch of 103 students last year.
Currently, NRTI, a deemed university offers two courses – BBA in transportation management and BSc in transportation technology. It is India’s first such university/institute that is focussed on transport-related education, training, and multidisciplinary research. The university has been set up especially to create a resource pool of best-in-class professionals for the railway and transportation sector.
The railway university incorporates 21st-century skills including communication, critical thinking, and collaboration, providing an opportunity for project-based learning at railway establishments. The university also offers financial aid, up to 100 per cent tuition and 50 per cent hostel fee waiver for eligible students. NRTI has also collaborated with many foreign universities including Cornell University, University of California in Berkeley, Russia University of Transport (MIIT) in Moscow and St. Petersburg State Transport University.
Source: Financial Express
Image Source: Indian Railways