Dhanbad District is one of the twenty four districts in the state of Jharkhand and the district has the city of Dhanbad as its administrative headquarters. According to the survey conducted in the year 2011, the district is the second most populous district in the state of Jharkhand and the district is also called as the Coal Capital of India next to Ranchi. The district of Dhanbad was constituted in the year 1956 by carving out of the old Dhanbad subdivision Chas and Chandankiyari police stations of the sadar subdivision of the earlier district of Manbhum. The administrative capital city of district Dhanbad is the 79th fastest growing city in the world. As mentioned earlier, the district is popular for coal mining and some of the popular companies like IISCO, ECL, BCCL and Tata Steel have their coal plants in the district.

Name of district:

The original name of the Dhanbad district was Dhanbaid, which seems to have been derived from the word Dhan which means paddy since the district is acting as a land of paddy.

Higher Education in Dhanbad District:

When it comes to higher education in the district of Dhanbad, the district has 16 degree college, one law college, one medical college and two engineering institutions. The names of government colleges functioning in the district are given below:

Medical College:

• Patliputra Medical College & Hospital, Dhanbad

Engineering Institutions:

• Indian School of Mines

• Birsa Institute of Technology, Sindri

Some of the details regarding these three government colleges functioning from the district of Dhanbad in the Indian state of Jharkhand are given below:

Medical College:

Patliputra Medical College & Hospital, Dhanbad came into existence in the year 1969 and the college offers medical education with affiliation from the Vinoba Bhave University. Initially, the college was functioning under the control of Ranchi University and later it was brought under the jurisdiction of Vinoba Bhave University. As far as intake capacity of the MBBS course is concerned, the institute is permitted to admit 50 students per year.

Engineering Institutions:

Indian School of Mines came into existence as the government felt the need for establishment of a Government college of mining engineering. As a result of this, the Indian School of Mining was established formally in the year 1926 by the then Vice Roy Lord Erwin. The institute is presently offering a number of courses like:

• Four-year Bachelor of Technology in

o Environmental engineering

o Electrical engineering

o Mechanical engineering

o Electronics & instrumentation engineering

o Computer science & engineering

o Mineral engineering

o Mining machinery engineering

o Petroleum engineering

o Mining engineering

• Five-year dual degree course in

o B. Tech Mineral Engineering + M. Tech in Materials Technology

o B. Tech Mineral Engineering + M. Tech in Mineral Resource Management

o B. Tech Petroleum Engineering + M. Tech in Petroleum Management

o B. Tech Mining Engineering + M. Tech in Mining Engineering

o B. Tech Mining Engineering + Master of Business Administration

These are only a few courses to mention and the institute offers several other courses as well.

Birsa Institute of Technology, Sindri is a Government of Jharkhand initiative established in the year 1949 and the institute is wholly owned by the Department of Science & Technology of Jharkhand Government. The institute is offering 11 different branches of B. Tech courses through the eleven departments functioning under its control and admission to these courses are done based on the merit secured by the students in Jharkhand Combined Entrance Competitive Examination. In addition, M. Tech courses are also offered by the institution for which admission is done based on valid GATE score of candidates.

In addition to these colleges, Government Polytechnic is also functioning under the government of Jharkhand to offer quality technical education.