The Indian National Congress passed a resolution at its XVII session stating that: “in view of the fact that the tendency of recent legislation namely, The Indian Mines Act VII of 1901, is that all Indian mines must be kept under the supervision of mining experts, the Congress is of opinion that a Government College of Mining Engineering be established in some suitable place in India on the models of the Royal School of Mines in England, Mining Colleges of Japan and at other places in the continent.
The McPherson Committee formed by the Government of British India submitted its report recommending the establishment of an institution for imparting education in the fields of mining and geology.
The association of Indian Mine Managers’ approached the government demanding the execution of the McPherson committee’s report.
1.Recurring exigencies for the inception of such an institute formed the primary basis for the establishment of the ‘Indian School of Mines & Applied Geology’ at Dhanbad by the hands of the then Viceroy Lord Irwin on 9th December 1926.
2.Institute’s general work commenced with Dr. David Penman as its first founder-principal. The institute offered courses solely in Mining Engineering and Applied Geology.
Dr. C. Forrester took over the institute as its new principal (1936-1948).
Dr. Rajendra Prasad, the then President of India, inaugurated the celebrations on the silver jubilee of the institute, giving it an entirely fresh impetus.
The institute began offering courses in Petroleum Engineering and Applied Geophysics. Its name was changed to ‘Indian School of Mines (ISM)’.
Petroleum engineers organized the biggest student strike in the history of the institute, causing ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited) to come for campus recruitment.
1.Faculty recruitment process underwent a massive change, discarding the original procedure of hiring faculties through Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
2.The school was granted the ‘university status’ by the University Grants Commission under Section 3 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956.
ISM began offering courses in Mining Machinery Engineering.
New courses in Fuel and Mineral Engineering were also introduced on the pretext of the institute’s golden jubilee.
New courses Electronics Engineering introduced.
1. New courses Department of Chemistry introduced
2. New courses Department of Physics introduced.
3. New courses Department of Mathematics & Computing introduced.
Ministry of Human Resource Development(MHRD), Government of India took over the control of the institute, bringing the perks and pay scales of its employees on par with those of Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT’s) and Indian Institutes of Management (IIM’s).
1.The institute began admitting students through IIT Joint Entrance Examination (IIT-JEE) conducted jointly by the IIT’s and ISM.
2. New courses Computer Science and Engineering introduced.
Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the would-be President of India, addressed the 20th convocation, sharing his words of wisdom with the young grads of the institute.
The institute initiated a bachelor of technology course in Mechanical Engineering.
New courses Electrical Engineering introduced.
New courses Environmental Engineering introduced.
New Chemical Engineering introduced.
The long run of Indian School of Mines (ISM) came to an end, for it had now been awarded the tag of an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) on 6th September 2016.
1.Shri Pranab Mukherjee graced the 36th convocation with his presence.
2.A joint statement was made on 18th November 2014 by our Honourable Prime Ministers of India and Australia to explore opportunities partnerships between Australian Institutions and Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad in the area of Clean Coal and Energy Technologies. Prime Minister Turnbull even briefed Prime Minister Modi on the Australia-India mining partnership at IIT (ISM) Dhanbad. Partnership activities include research and development collaboration, along with training and technology transfer.
3.The institute instigated courses on Engineering Physics.
Civil Engineering was introduced into the institute’s curriculum.
1.A four-member team from the institute successfully discovered a 30-million ton Manganese ore deposits worth Rs 36000 crore, winning a mention from the then Union human resource and development (UHRD) minister Shri Prakash Javadekar.
