Do we need more IITs? If theIIT is assciated with excellence then the logical answer is yes. But there is another side to this question, and this is that nothing worthwhile or the best is sustained when this phenomenon is replicated without bound. As with the natural order of things so it is with the institutions that can sustain excellence.This may sound elitist but the big question is how do we sustain the excellence that the IITs have built at a great cost. In order to do this we need first class faculty with first class researchers and students.As it is the IITs are not finding good researchers within the country,having to find it mostly abroad at a great cost. Will having more such institutes improve the situation? The answer is most certainly not. We need to build good second level institutions such as the RECs, good engineering colleges in the private as well as the Govt sector.The second level colleges must be upgraded continuously to produce a pool of first rate engineers.The IITs can draw upon this enormous pool of engineers and future researchers who will form the environment to sustain the excellence that has of late become synonymous with the IITs.
