It seems really very deplorable on the part of certain contributors to this message board that they are unaware of the history behind 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.
