An alumnus of the Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology has contributed Rs 5 lakh for the redesign of his alma mater’s website, which will have a portal for the alumni to enrol and the students to register for semester exams.

This is the first contribution from an alumnus since the Shibpur institute had in August set up an alumni cell to raise funds for infrastructure development and create a corpus for students’ welfare, on the lines of the IITs.

The redesigned website will be launched this month.

“We have received the money from an alumnus who does not want his name to be revealed till the redesigned website is launched. This contribution would mark a new beginning in our drive to engage the alumni for the welfare of the institute,” said IIEST director Parthasarathi Chakrabarti.

The redesigned website will have a provision for the students to register and pay fees for semester exams. An IIEST official said students could also see their grade cards online on the website.

“We have plans to offer courses online through the website. But before that we want to assess the performance of the website,” said the official.

The institute is creating a database of former students so that they could be tapped in a systematic manner for help.

“Once we are able to create a database, we will be able to reach out to the alumni with specific plans for which we would like them to contribute. We are a fledgling institute (as a central institute) and we are in need of funds,” he said.

Another official said the alumni had contributed occasionally since the time the Shibpur institute was a government engineering college but now they wanted to develop a platform to raise funds in an organised manner.

The institute is seeking involvement of the alumni in the development of the institute through endowment funds.

Chakrabarti explained why they were looking for alumni support urgently.

“We want immediate funds for the development of hostels and classrooms. The Centre has sanctioned funds for these projects. But getting the funds would take time. If we get a substantial amount from the alumni, we can start work immediately,” he said.

The Union human resource and development ministry had in early October granted the IIEST Rs 260 crore for building a hostel and an academic complex.

“Our alumni network is not well-organised. We want to convert it into a structured organisation for proper mobilisation and utilisation of resources,” said an official of the institute.

“We can even name a hostel or a classroom after the alumni to recognise their contribution.”