The Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar (Devanāgarī: भारतीय प्रौद्योगिकी संस्थान भुवनेश्वर) is the third and one of the largest of eight new Indian Institutes of Technology established by the MHRD, Government of India in 2008-2009. A bill for the addition of these eight IITs and the conversion of Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University to IIT was passed in the Lok Sabha in March 24, 2011 and is still to be adopted by the Rajya Sabha. The institute admits students into B. Tech, M. Tech and Ph.D programs. The classes are held in Bhubaneswar city. The academic session begins in july each year. Prof. Madhusudan Chakraborty is the director of IIT Bhubaneswar since 2009, succeeding acting director, Damodar Acharya. Establishing an IIT in Orissa was a long standing demand for several decades. As the state ranked at the bottom in terms of terms of centrally funded academic and research institutions, there were strong allegations of Congress led central government neglect. There were several incidents of protest, both locally in Orissa, the National Students Union of India (NSUI), and eminent nonresident Indian academics.