Chittaranjan Mitra, popularly known as CR Mitra and CRM, was an Indian scientist who is best remembered as the second Director of the Birla Institute of Technology and Science Pilani (BITS). He played a pivotal role in the transformation of the Institute from a local engineering college to a reputed university.
Born in 1926 in Allahabad in the erstwhile United Provinces of British India, C.R. Mitra studied at Allahabad University, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, did his Masters at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and then acquired a Doctorate in Engineering Science from Columbia University, New York.
Returning to India in the 1960s, Mitra first became the director of the Harcourt Butler Technological Institute. In 1969, he was offered the position of director of BITS Pilani by Ghanshyam Das Birla. At this time, the institute was undergoing major changes under the leadership of a committee of experts from MIT. He is credited with increasing the pace of those reforms, as well as for constituting a "practice school" program of industry internship "far more ambitious than anything MIT had done, as a requirement for all faculty and students". To address the human resource development needs of the Indian industry and the financial challenge of running higher degree programs at BITS Pilani, in the year 1979, he pioneered the Work Integrated Learning Programs, which provided education and training to employees of Indian Industries. Today, these programs have an enrollment of about 17,000 students throughout India and are responsible for earning two thirds of the revenue of the Institute.
Chittaranjan is a suburb of Asansol at Burdwan District in the state of West Bengal, India. It is famous for Chittaranjan Locomotive Works, an Indian Government railway factory.
Chittaranjan is located at 23°52′N 86°52′E / 23.87°N 86.87°E / 23.87; 86.87. It has an average elevation of 155 metres (508 feet).
Asansol is composed of undulating latterite. This area lies between two mighty rivers – the Damodar and the Ajay. They flow almost parallel to each other in the region – the average distance between the two rivers is around 30 km. For ages the area was heavily forested and infested with plunderers and marauders. The discovery of coal led to industrialisation of the area and most of the forests have been cleared. At the western fringe of the area the Barakar forms the boundary with Jharkhand. There is a small stretch of land border with Jharkhand in the Chittaranjan area.
As of 2001 India census, Chittaranjan had a population of 45,925. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Chittaranjan has an average literacy rate of 83%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with male literacy of 88% and female literacy of 79%. 10% of the population is under 6 years of age.