Department of Town Planning, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar - B.Tech. (Urban and Regional Planning), M.Tech. (Urban Planning), Masters of Planning (Infrastructure)

Department of Town Planning

The need to have more Planning Schools in different parts/ regions of the country was realised after the recommendation of Zakaria Committee Report in 1966. As a result, the efforts of the then Chief Town Planner of Punjab, S. Bharpur Singh, gave birth to a Post-Graduate Programme in School of Planning in Amritsar in July 1972. Being in Amritsar, it was named after the founder of the holy city and was titled as Guru Ramdas Post Graduate School of Planning.

As a premier institution, the School has served the sub-region in particular and the country in general since its inception by producing able planning professionals. The sub-region served by the School comprises mainly of the States namely Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Haryana, Delhi and Rajasthan. However, from time to time, the School has also had students from other parts of the country such as the North-Eastern states, Uttar Pradesh and Southern parts of India. The School boasts of Illustrious Alumni who are carving a niche for themselves in public and private sector organizations both in India and abroad. The prime objectives of Guru Ramdas School of Planning are as follows:

i.	To generate qualified and well trained manpower for planning and management of human settlements.
ii.	To carry out research, consultancy and build up database in various aspects of Spatial Planning.

We abide by the motto - SHAPING SPACES TO SHAPE FUTURES.

Courses Offered:

The course titled Master of City and Regional Planning (MCRP) was the first course to be introduced in Guru Ramdas School of Planning in 1972 and continued till when it was restructured into M. Tech (Urban Planning) in 1996. In the intervening period Bachelors degree in Architecture (B. Arch) was introduced in the School in 1986 and continued till department of Architecture was established separately in 1989. The B. Tech (Urban and Regional Planning) course was introduced in 1991. With this the School acquired the distinction of being the second School in the country after School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi to run the Under-Graduate degree programme in Urban and Regional Planning. In the year 2008, the School introduced Masters of Infrastructure Planning under the innovative Programme of University Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi.

Currently, the School offers three courses titled :

1.	Bachelor of Technology (B. Tech) in Urban and Regional Planning;
2.	Master of Technology (M. Tech) in Urban Planning; and
3.	Masters of Infrastructure Planning

The B. Tech (Urban and Regional Planning) course is of four years duration and each academic year is divided into two semesters. There are a total of 40 seats and the minimum qualification for admission is 10+2 (non-medical) or equivalent. Eighty five percent (85%) seats are offered to the candidates having merit in the state level Common Entrance Test (CET). Remaining fifteen percent seats are offered to the candidates having merit in the All India Engineering Education Entrance (AIEEE) test.

The M. Tech (Urban Planning) Course is of two years duration and each academic year is divided into two semesters. There are a total of 23 seats including 5 sponsored and 8 GATE qualified candidates. The minimum qualification for admission is Under-Graduate degree in Planning/ Civil Engineering/ Architecture or Post-Graduate degree in Geography/ Economics/ Sociology or its equivalent with atleast 50% marks in aggregate. Candidates acquiring the required qualifications for admission have to appear for an Entrance Test conducted by the University and are admitted on the basis of merit in the entrance test.
Both the degrees i.e. B. Tech (Urban and Regional Planning) and M. Tech (Urban Planning) are already recognized by All India Council for Technical Education, New Delhi and Institute of Town Planners India, New Delhi.

The Masters of Infrastructure Planning course is of two years (eight semesters) duration. Each academic session is divided into two semesters. Twenty (20) seats, including five (5) seats reserved for sponsored candidates, are offered to candidates having Under-Graduate degree in Planning/ Civil Engineering/ Architecture or Post-Graduate degree in Geography/ Economics/ Sociology or its equivalent with atleast 50% marks in aggregate. Candidates acquiring the required qualifications for admission have to appear for an Entrance Test conducted by the University and are admitted on the basis of merit in the entrance test.

Facilities Available:

The School is equipped with basic as well as specialized infrastructure in terms of space and equipments. The details of the same are as follows.

Classrooms and Studios

The School has separate classroom and studio for each class. The size of class room and the studion matches the student strength of each class. These are well lighted and well furnished with necessary furniture and auxiliary requirements. The studios have the facility of drawing tables as well as electric connections to facilitate the students to work manually and/or on their laptops. Each studio has soft boards erected on its walls for the purpose of periodic reviews. Proper care is taken for their maintenance and updates. Each class room is equipped with LCD and OHP facility for teaching facilities.

Surveying Lab

The surveying lab of the School has all the necessary surveying instruments i.e. chain survey set, compass survey set, plane tabling set, leveling set, theodolite set, area calculation set, remote survey set. The School is in the process of purchasing total station, digital theodolite and other latest surveying instruments. It has a good collection of samples of building materials e.g. water supply items such as G.I. Tuling, Ellwy, P.V.C. tuling and accessories, S.W.G. pipe, C.I. Pipe, Floor Tap; various tiles are available e.g. glazed titles, marble tiles.

AutoCAD lab

It is equipped with latest version of AutoCAD software alongwith other necessary softwares such as Office 2007, Adobe Reader, Adobe Photoshop, Coral Draw, etc. The lab contains 15 computers, scanners, printers, A0 size plotter and multimedia projector. The students work under the guidance of qualified staff and technicians. The instructions are given to the students by presentations through LCD projector. The lab is properly networked and each system is connected with internet.

GIS Lab

Latest GIS softwares (ArcView 9.3 and Arc Info) are installed in properly networked 10 computers lab. These computers are suitably supported by other essential softwares such as Office 2007, Google Earth, Adobe Reader, Adobe Photoshop, etc. The students undertake their planning studio exercises in GIS environment keeping background of remote sensing, aerial images and statistical data. The instructions are given to the students by presentations through LCD projector. Each PC in the lab is connected with internet.

Model Making Lab

The students are trained in preparation of different types of models relevant to the planning practice exercises in the model making lab. The lab has adequate space and equipments required to prepare the models. It has a collection of number of models, for the reference of students. It has equipments like auger, brace, various types of chisels and hammers, compass saw, cramps, drill.

Map Section

Map section is another important lab of the School, which has rich archive of different types of maps and drawings. It has Survey of India Maps, GT sheets of restricted and other areas, base maps of urban and regional areas of the sub-region in particular and nation in general. The planning studio exercises of the students are kept in folders.

Photography Lab

The photography lab is consisting of the dark room and the necessary equipment for photography such as cameras, tripods, lamps, trays to teach the techniques and the process of photography. The students are also taught digital photography and related softwares i.e. photoshop to equip them with latest techniques of developing, processing and printing of photographs.

School Library

The School has a library with a collection of more than 850 gifted books and reports in addition to 12000 subject related books, journals and reference material in central library. The gifted books, planning studio exercise reports, thesis, planning projects and proceedings of various seminars and conferences are regularly referred by the faculty and students of the School.

Map Printing Section

For the convenience of the faculty as well as students, the School has a separate room with azo operator for the provision of blue prints for different planning studio exercises.

TEACHING METHODOLOGIES AND AIDS

The faculty uses traditional and modern teaching methodologies and aids to facilitate and accelerate the learning process amongst the students with focus to inculcate interest in innovation and research. Teaching methodologies followed in the School include:

Faculty Lectures
Lectures/Demonstrations from experts
Use of Blackboard
Use of OHP & Slide projector
Multimedia & Audio-Visual aided teaching
Student presentations and reviews
Use of imageries /Map demonstrations.
Field visits

Contact Department :

Head of Department : Ashwani Luthra
PABX Contact No. : 0183- 2258802-09( 3496)

Mobile No. : 9888517234
Email ID : ashwaniluthra1@gmail.com

Placement Incharge : Ms. Kiran Sandhu
PABX Contact No. : 0183- 2258802-09( 3253)

Mobile No. : 9876881389
Email ID : kiransandhu13@gmail.com