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Mandi, 22 April 2025. In a consequential move towards reimagining academic governance in nation’s premium engineering institutions, IIT Mandi hosts a three day Annual Registrars’ Conclave, which brought together 18 registrars and 3 Directors from IITs across the country. The event marks one of the largest gatherings of senior academic administrators from the IIT system in recent years. The conclave aims to encourage the discussion on strengthening academic administration, streamlining processes through automation, and enhancing the role of administration in research, both in the Indian and global contexts.
The conclave was inaugurated in the presence of Prof. Laxmidhar Behera, Director, IIT Mandi, and Prof. Rajeev Ahuja, Director, IIT Ropar along with the registrars from 18 IITs. While the event was virtually addressed by Prof. Manoj Singh Gaur, Director, IIT Jammu.
Stressing the importance of value-based leadership, Prof. Laxmidhar Behera, Director, IIT Mandi, called upon institutions to adopt values-based leadership principles grounded in the teachings of the Shrimad Bhagavad Gita. He stated, "There is no problem in life or in governance that has no solution in the Gita.” Prof Behera also urged registrars to create systems that are transparent, efficient, and student-oriented.
Prof. Rajeev Ahuja, Director, IIT Ropar, said, "Registrars are the institutional memory, and also the backbone of continuity. Their administrative base is the key to keep the IIT brand alive in the world." Bringing his three decades of academic administration experience in Sweden, he reflected upon The Role of Administration in research: Indian & European perspectives.
Prof. Manoj Singh Gaur, Director, IIT Jammu, being an accomplished computer engineer and having first hand experience with institute automation system, shared his thoughts on Automation of institutions of National Importance. He addressed the conclave remotely, and said, “It is important that our institutions are at the forefront of automation, not just in the laboratories, but also in administration. Registrars’ have to be the torchbearers of this change."
Dr. Kumar Sambhav Pandey, Registrar, IIT Mandi, stated, "This conclave is an initiative towards nation's commitment to strengthen the administrative backbone of India's finest institutions. Our vision is to work together to drive a new vision for responsive, technology-enabled, and mission-based governance."
The event witnessed the participation of senior administrators from 18 IITs across the country. The distinguished attendees included Dr. Jayesh Chandra S Pai (Retd) from IIT Bhilai; Bamadev Acharya, IIT Bhubaneswar; Ganesh K. Bhorkade, IIT Bombay; Atul Vyas, IIT Delhi; Dr. Kalyan Kumar Bhattacharjee, IIT Dharwad; Prem Kumar Chopra, IIT Gandhinagar; Dr. K. V. Reghuthaman, IIT Goa; Krishan Kumar Tiwari, IIT Guwahati; Venkat Rao Voleti, IIT Hyderabad; and Siba Prasad Hota, IIT Indore. Also present were Col. Virinder Singh Jeji (Retd), IIT Jodhpur; Dr. Ankur Gupta, IIT Kanpur; Vishwa Ranjan, IIT Kharagpur; Capt. Amit Jain (Retd), IIT Mandi; Dr. B.V. Ramesh, IIT Palakkad; Prashant Garg, IIT Roorkee, and Dr. Dinesh K. S, IIT Ropar. Their collective insights and expertise enriched the discussions and reinforced the importance of administrative collaboration across India's premier technical institutions
The conclave also offers a special platform for exchanging mutual concerns and building a common vision of administration for India's IITs. Sessions covered enhancing coordination between academic and administrative wings, timely implementation of academic processes, and institution-level strategies for enhancing research and innovation support.
Since India aspires to become a world knowledge economy, events like the Registrars’ Conclave are important to future-proof the higher education ecosystem. This conclave's deliberations and decisions will undoubtedly set the administration agenda for the IITs and other Institutions of National Importance for the upcoming years.
