Why is IIT Roorkee different from other IITs?

Indian Institute of Technology- Roorkee is the 7^th IIT in India. A lot of people think that IIT Roorkee is a recently established Technical Institute by the Government of India. Well, it will be a surprise to know that IIT Roorkee as it is commonly called is one of the oldest Asian educational Institutes.  IITR is different from other IITs in so many ways, some of them are listed below

History

• The history of IITR dates back to 1847, when it was called Thomason College of Civil Engineering. Though IIT Kharagpur is known as the oldest IIT in India (established in 1951), the history of IITR clearly claims otherwise
• Unlike other IITs, IITR was established as a college of Civil Engineering in the 19^th Century, then transitioned to University of Roorkee and then into IIT. Clearly IITR has gone through metamorphosis which other IITs haven’t. This way IITR is unique and one of it’s kind
• IITR is one of the oldest Civil Engineering colleges to have contributed to the infrastructure and technological advancement of India, more than its fellow IITs

Campus Life

• Students’ lifestyle in IITR is better than the other IITs. This is what the alumni of IITR claim. The internet is all gung-ho about this point. The only IIT where students get an opportunity to indulge in adventure sports is IITR. This is something the institution can boast about. Of course, other IITs do have their own specialties, but not every student gets a chance to hike the Himalayas, go to river rafting and sailing. Only students of IIT-R have that privilege
• ll IITs including IITR conduct annual cultural and technical festivals. All other IITs have one cultural and one technical festival. IITR celebrates 5 annual festivals. IIT Congnizance is IITR’s technical festival. Thomso, Sangram, Sankalp and Srishti are social and cultural festivals of IITR
• IIT-R is located at the footsteps of the mountain range Shivalik. This location proves to be slightly disadvantageous, whereas other IITs don’t face this issue as they are mostly situated in cities, towns and plain areas. This is one of the reasons why other IITs are able to attract more corporates for campus interviews and better world class faculty members than IITR
• The campus of IITR is also different from the others, in the sense they have three campuses with well-maintained garden and solar powered buildings
• The administration of IITR is also highly debated in the internet and media, especially after expelling 73 students due to poor performance. No other IIT has taken such strict action against the students which sparked criticism and debates among the student community

Clearly, IITR is different from other IITs in its own way. It is quite evident that IIT Roorkee is known for offering good course curricula and education system, like their fellow IITs. The location, in-campus life, opportunities for co-curricular activities and sports are areas in which IIT Roorkee stands out from other IITs.

_{Featured Image: IIT Rorkee website}