The institute is tying up with four Russian universities and launching a centre of excellence, which will aim at helping Bengal gain momentum and surge towards becoming an integral part of the Digital India initiative.

It all began in November 2016, when representatives from JIS Group went to Russia. They were part of a delegation from The Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BCCI), which went to Russia to explore opportunities for Bengal.

As a fruit of that visit and in order to commemorate the completion of 70 years of diplomatic relations between India and Russia, the Russian institutes would help JIS to empower rural Bengal to become a part of the Digital India movement.

“Institutes from Russia will help us with their technology and academic inputs to put Bengal on the map of Digital India. I am very happy to say that during our visit to Moscow, the Russian consulate told us that the model of our centre of excellence is very unique and we from Bengal can become a role model for the rest of the country when it comes to taking Russian help for yielding societal benefit through an education initiative,” said  Taranjit Singh, Managing Director of JIS Group Educational Initiatives and Chancellor of JIS University, during the launch of the Center of Excellence at JIS College of Engineering and announcing its tie-up with four Russian universities and a university from the UK.

The center of excellence at JIS College of Engineering is tying up with four Russian Universities - Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT), National Research Nuclear University ‘MEPhI’, Innopolis University and Russian New University.

“This is not just another centre of excellence, our format is unique. Any student can apply with their innovation idea and on the basis of selection, get enrolled. They can work on any subject area and if we do not have resources our Russian partners will help. It will be a gateway for innovators,” said Sila Singh Ghosh, vice president of corporate communications, JIS Group.

And if that was not enough, Russian-Indian S&T Centre, Moscow has also agreed to lend a helping hand and ensure the student from the center of excellence gets connected to the right institution.

“Our Russian partners have already asked for the societal, demographic and economic maps of Bengal, which we have shared. They will train our students and teachers on empowering the locals and built technology to help the rural population go digital. Be it the farmer or a mason or the daily wage earner, our students will be trained to help them go digital,” said Singh Ghosh.

To begin with, through competitive selection the center of excellence at JIS College of Engineering will send 10 students for higher studies in Russia with full scholarship from the Russian Universities.

To kickstart the process of helping Bengal go digital, JIS Group will be organizing a two day (February 23 & February 24) ‘International Symposium on Gen Next Initiative for Digital India”. The modalities of the tie-up with the Russian Universities and how it will lend a hand to JIS Group to help Bengal go digital will be worked out on February 23 and February 24 with the 16-member delegation from Russian universities.

The University of Bedfordshire from UK on the other hand will tie up with JIS Group to offer joint degrees and offer students exchange programmes.