Kanpur IIT's 5-year economics course

The Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, is planning to start a five-year undergraduate plus post-graduate programme in Economics.

The students will be trained in basic economic theory, econometrics, quantitative techniques, industrial economics, international trade, infrastructure economics, money and finance, environmental economics, and law and its connection with economics.

The institute can admit 25 students through the entrance examination. The IIT has a seven-member faculty in economics.

"The need for the new course has been felt for a long time," says K K Saxena, head of the economics department.

The rationale for setting up this programme is there is need for interaction between these two subjects.

"The urgency is due to the opening up of the country's economy and the competition from multinationals, and the demand for higher growth," Saxena said.

However, while nobody in the IIT denies that the course is required, there is a fear in the department of social sciences that other disciplines may suffer as a result of the introduction.

Also, after the exit of the NDA government, the courses the institute was offering in Sanskrit and ancient Indian history are seen to be languishing.