A commemorative postage stamp on the 150^th anniversary (1847-1997) of the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, formerly known as University of Roorkee (1947-2001), Thomason College of Civil Engineering (1854-1947) and College of Civil Engineering at Roorkee (1847-54) :

Issued by India

Issued on Jan 1, 1997

Issued for : The Department of Posts is happy to issue this stamp to mark the sesquicentennial celebrations of the Roorkee University and also of Civil Engineering and higher technical education in the country.

Credits :
Stamp design : Prof. H. Sinvhal
FDC design : Dr. (Mrs.) Ila Gupta
Cancellation design : Smt. Alka Sharma

Type : First Day Cover

Colour : Multicolour

Denomination : 800 Paise

Overall size : 4.06 x 2.28 Cms.

Printing size : 3.75 x 1.98 Cms.

Perforation : 13 x 13

Paper : Imported un w/m Adhesive Gravure Coated Stamp Paper in Sheets 50.8 x 53.5 cms.

Stamps Printed : 0.7 Million

Number per issue sheet : 50

Printing Process : Photogravure

Printer : India Security Press, Nashik

About : 

• The Civil Engineering College at Roorkee was formally established with the issuance of a notification by the Government of North West Province on 25^th November, 1847, to meet the demand for personnel skilled in civil construction. The first admissions to the Roorkee college were made on 1^st January, 1848. In 1854, the college was renamed as “Thomason College of Civil Engineering at Roorkee” in memory of James Thomason who as Lt. Governor of North West Provinces had been primarily responsible for its establishment.
• The College continued to make steady progress to meet the requirement of civil engineering personnel particularly for the major projects. It was elevated to the status of a University by an Act of U.P. Legislature in 1948 in recognition of its past performance and its potential and keeping in view the needs of modern India. The University was presented its Charter on 25^th November 1949 in the presence of the first Prime Minister of India, Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru elevating the erstwhile college to the first engineering university of independent India.
• Since its establishment, the University of Roorkee has played a vital role in providing the technical manpower and knowhow to the country and in the pursuit of research, the University ranks amongst the best technological institutions in the world and has contributed to all sectors of technological development.
• There are special programmes of cooperation through which the University offers engineering and science education to a large number of overseas students, especially from developing nations.

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