To cater to the need of trained manpower for higher learning in science and technology in the country, the Indian Institute of Technology at Kharagpur, the first chain of six IITs, was established in 1950. The idyllic, sylvan setting at Hijli was chosen to provide a cordon sanitaire to the serious learners for uninterrupted pursuit of studies. There was also an element of poetic justice in choosing of yesteryears as the coign for opening up new vistas to the future. From a modest start in the dilapidated Hijli jail building, IIT Kharagpur has been engaged in a virtually continuos process of development. The handsome main building with its majestic tower was inaugurated in 1956 and Pundit Jawarhal Nehru in the first convocation address in the same year said :
Here in the place of that Hijli detention camp stands this fine monument of India, representing India's urges, India's future in the making. This picture seems to me symbolic of changes that are coming to India.
Today, IIT Kharagpur has come a long way to its present position of preeminence with eighteen academic departments, eight multidisciplinary centers, a School of Management, a School of Telecommunications and several sophisticated central facilities. It is the largest and most diversified among all the IITs.
In a study sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, it has the highest relative employment productivity index among the IITs and is the top supplier of fresh engineers / technologists to the public and private sector industries. It also ranked first among the IITs in the production of science and engineering Ph.D.s.
IIT Kharagpur strives to produce scientists and technologists of the highest caliber to help the nation become self-reliant in its technological needs and to provide leadership in the field of technical education and research. Some of the distinctive features of the IIT programmes are science based engineering education, emphasis on complete education, continuous internal evaluation and flexibility for experimentation, upgradation and innovation in curriculum design.
Over the last four decades of its existence, IIT Kharagpur has redefined its aims, broadened its objectives, and introduced major changes in its programmes and priorities. The syllabi and the curricula are constantly updated and modified keeping in pace with technological developments. It is no longer considered enough just to train first-rate engineering graduates with the help of a competent faculty and staff. Consolidation and diversification of academic effort to relate the entire educational endeavor to the larger context of the national development process, constitute the focus of its dynamic educational philosophy.