IITs are what they are because of the superb faculty and the cream of the cream students that get through every year. Labeling regional colleges as IITs will not affect the quality of faculty or students graduating. More IITs would mean a lot lot more students get branded as "IITians", and if every 2nd graduate has the same IIT label it will only make things worse .. even for those who genuinely excelled in *REAL* IITs!
If 'labelling' more institutes as IITs makes more people of India smarter and brainier then why not label every college in India as an IIT !!!
Please maintain the exclusivity of the 7 IITs. At least let the ones in Guwahati & Roorkee establish themselves before you make/convert/label more.
Lastly, dont regional engg colleges have a proud and long history of their own? Why are they so keen on getting an IIT label? I cant imagine why the proud and respected University of Roorkee allowed the Govt to convert it to an IIT. Couldn't they make a U.Roorkee *better* than the IITs .. than meekly give in to earn that 'IIT label'. Disappointing!
RE:More IITs ? NO!!!
by ramesh on Oct 20, 2003 11:26 PM Permalink
The exasperation of a few, especially the fortunate alumni of IITs regarding the "dilution" of standards is understandable. But is'nt it high time that the facility to study at an IIT is extended to more number of people, keeping with the the increase in polpulation, and the increase in general standard of undergraduate/intermediate education all over the country? The fact is, far more people are talented now-a-days than when the IITs were established and many talented are losing opportunities of higher studies, sometimes in a "photofinish" situation just because of the "numbers game". I however agree that RECs should be allowed to retain their identity. New IITs should have be started anew.
RE:More IITs ? NO!!!
by Devinder on Oct 20, 2003 08:31 PM Permalink
In response to Mr. Aditya's question, well, it seems really very foolish on Mr. Aditya's perceptions to be unaware of the very creation of IITs. When Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru first visualised the idea of a premier technical institution under the name of Indian Insitute of Technology, the very first college he selected for this for University of Roorkee. However, the then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Pt. Govind Ballabh Pant, pleaded him not ot do so since Roorkee was the only jewel-in-the-crwon of India and UP was proud to own it. It was then that Pt. Nehru had to look for other options. The ONLY thing missing with University of Roorkee vis-a-vis IITs was the brand name, to which it was a moral and rightful contestant. It is infact a matter of pride for the existing IITs to have the first technical institute of Asia established way back in 1847 in their family.
The thing is: Indian college systems differ SO much in the quality level between the IIT's and the second/third tier colleges in India. There needs to be an honest effort to bring up the quality of education within the middle and lower COLLEGE schools. This will give those individuals who are still VERY VERY intelligent, BUT DO NOT get into IIT to still go into a college system that will prepare them for the real world. Currently, there are so many talented individuals who are prevented from using their full capabilities because of the quality of education they receive in college. This gap needs to be addressed.
RE:Indian Colleges
by Shashank on Oct 20, 2003 11:07 PM Permalink
hello aditya
i surley agree with ur thoughts..specially the point that the RECs and other deemed institutions have their own history of success and the labelling as IIT
is not actually needed for the recognition of their excellence.
i strongly believe that roorkee could have achieved better results being what it was before, for instance take BITS pilani and BIT Mesra both are the kings in their own way.
im from karnataka and i feel about NITK suratkal and i dont think that if at all it is turned into an IIT in near future it will make any scense.
i feel thatIIts ,RECs and other institutions have speciality of their own,well we cannot deny the fact that iits get the cream of indian students but it is the quality that makes it the *IIT* and i strongly feel that if at all any inst is labelled as iit it should live up to the quality of the iits.
well sir im in 12th and my ultimate goal is to get into iit kharagpur so as ur are a student,i request u to guide me for the JEE 2004. IHOPE TO MEET U THERE NEXT YEAR
RE:Indian Colleges
by Satish Dalal on Oct 21, 2003 02:08 PM Permalink
Dear Mr. Aditya,
I agree that IITs are what they are because of the superb faculty and the cream of the cream students. But, i would like to bring to ur notice that there r no longer any RECs. All the RECs have already been converted to NITs. What this means is that these colleges now donn't receive funding from the state goverment, but receive it directly from the center. This translates into better funds and hence better infrastucture. Also, if u have kept track of the latest admission process, then u will find that there is hardly any distinction between the talent of the IIT entrants and the NIT entrants. Ofcourse this may not hold true for all NITs, but after all, the government has decided to convert only the 5 best NITs. Being an M.Tech student in NIT Calicut, I can say that we have very good infrastructure here and granting of the IIT status to us will only result in more funds so that we can be on par with the IITs. What u refer to as mere labelling is very much essential in order to get that funding. And about the faculty, i would like to bring to ur notice that most of them r IITians. So u shouldn't have any complaints about that.
5 of the 7 IIT's were started more than 30 years back...The population of India has almost tripled in last 50 years...There is indeed a seroius need to increase the number of IIT'S...US is a country with 250 million population has atleast 25 world class universities...So i think India can churn out world class engineers from IIT's if it holds to the fair and merit based selection process. Just making more IIt's wont help...The government should ensure that the new 5 IIT's proposed will get the same facilities and teachers that the old ones get...I having studied in REC can say that no professor did any research there(in my school) and the facilities were not even decent let alone world class.If the govt can provide these I think it is a good move...
RE:It is a good move !!!!!
by Pramod on Oct 22, 2003 10:39 AM Permalink
Well if your advice is correct then USA should make 1000s of more MITs and YALEs. Naming doen't matter, ecelling in what you are good at matters. Here in US even little known universities do research more than 1000 times than it is done in IITs or IISC. If we have hoards of IITs then every second enginner in India will have IIT brand and the brand will loose its relevance. Think about it.
Yes we need more number of institutions delivering higest quality. we would have to do it a step at a time to ensure that the highest standards and reputation of IIT's are maintained, probably one IIT at a time.
With increase in our population, we have to have more brains who would be directed to the right areas...I think it is a step in the proper direction.
RE:Yes we need more IIT's
by Mrs.M.D.Purandare on Oct 21, 2003 03:00 PM Permalink
Being a mother of IITian, I Agree with Abhishek and others who are thinking it right decision on the part of Indian Govt. Infrastructure reg.labs having efficient free networking, Ph.D. Faculties (with no.of researches at their credit)plus good campus environment with quality acads.will definitely contribute to Progress of India. Just changing lable won't do at all. Further even I think at some IITs there is no internet facility at hostels which wastes time/energy of students. When they are adjusting with food and on some other grounds atleast these facilities need attn.
I hope government does not go about implementing this. By adding 5 more IITS, it will just lower the importance IITs get right now. There will not be any difference between IITS and any regional college.
Competition will lower and quality will degrade.
Over the years, importance IIT graduates enjoy in india and abroad will deminish. Instead I think government should try to improve masters and phd standards at IITs.
For once, let think about quality instead of quantity.
Atleast there has been a huge political debacle over converting ITBHU to IIT. Some people dont want to lose power by doing so and therefore since ages this issue has been kept at bay. Goverment sees it and ignores it. This dallying makes me sad and with the heart full of remorse I again appeal to the center on behalf of all ITBHU alumnis to give the college the autonomous status so it is not under the shackles of political maneuvers and stop some power hungry sharks from profiting from education.
institues for Biotechnology,Genetics,Biomedical,biochemistry and other related interdisciplinary engineering. Also for some inexplicable reason there is a kind of defacto segregation of graduates in India in this field.(Math for boys and Biology for Girls???). More women are graduating in life sciences than men.We need the best talent (both men and women) in these areas instead of restricting ourselves to just women.
Why only 12 more IITs, why not rename all engineering colleges as IITs..everybody will be happy.All this is crap..already companies on recruitment are of the opinion that quality of students churned out is steadily eroding in IIT. The very fact that the govt wants to rename them as "IIT" shows that they are more interested in cashing on the brand value rather than making any significant infrastructure changes. IITians are a breed apart and they should remain so.
Definitely not ... It is like having an MIT or Caltech in every state in US. IITs are not just a brand name, IITs have grown over the years. Policy makers cannot just rename an existing institution and call it an IIT.
