Do we need 23 IIT’s in India?

Being an alumnus, I feel bad from within whenever Government announces a new IIT, the genuine question crops into my mind. Way back in 2001, when I finally made it to IIT Kanpur, the pride that I had in being an IITian still motivates and guides me to do something different. With Lawmakers clearing roadways for 6 new IIT’s and extending status of ISM Dhanbad, now we have 16 existing IIT’s + 6 new IIT’s + IIT Dhanbad (erstwhile ISM Dhanbad). In totality 23 IIT’s now, i.e., One IIT per State!

Will IITians from 2020 have same pride feeling that my fellow colleagues carry? Will the smart brains from 2020 be equated similar by Corporates as they do now? I started thinking on the both sides of the coin.

Positives:

1.       More students shall get brand IIT tag. Students shall be at ease now. Getting into IITJEE shall be far easier. With my All India Rank in 1000’s, I managed to get Material Science. With a similar rank I could get a Computer Science or Electrical Engineering had I appeared in JEE 2016.

2.       More faculties shall get a chance of promotion to senior cadre. Faculties have an infight of being senior but not respected, or someone junior getting higher chair. Given a choice, there is favorism by people who are sitting on administrative positions. I remember one senior faculty who taught us Mechanics of Solids, was the most senior faculty, but was not promoted and decided to quit IIT later, and joined a private college as Director. We will not have brain drain now. One professor, can choose to go to other IIT with senior position/wider or taller position.

3.       More job openings at various levels (allied activities and skilled-unskilled job creations around the campuses.) The education system at IIT is more of experiment based rather than theory based. Students are allowed to use their mind to the fullest. Lot of resources are required. There shall be sufficient job creations in skilled/semi-skilled/unskilled level at and around IIT’s and also many shops/restaurants/dhaba earning good profit.

4.       Innovations: More fresh brains getting exposed to best technologies shall give better output. Incubations/innovations/out-of-box thinking shall generate sufficient fuel for Country’s growth.

Negatives:

1.       Brand dilution of Brand IIT, and IITians. Getting selected in 5000’s out of 3 lacs aspirants, vs. getting selected into 15000+ out of 3 lacs aspirants. I assume that population is not exploding with that number.

2.       Lesser Qualified Faculties: During early 2000’s, IIT’s boast the ratio of 1:20 faculty student ratio. If the same ratio to be maintained, you need three times more faculties with similar skill set. IIT’s select candidates preferably with B.Tech. from IIT’s and PhD’s from Universities of International Repute. Also a PhD who has been exposed with Tier-1 Universities from UG till PostDOC are selected to guide the fresh horns. It shall be difficult to tap such a talent and keep them intact in IIT’s. I don’t want the current selection process to change. Increasing number of faculty is not as much desired as keep a faculty of International repute.

3.       Higher Load on Faculty for Teaching, giving rise to lesser quality time for Research & Development. Faculties as well as Students learn and earn more with exposure to latest technologies, innovations and ‘doing/creating something new’.

4.       Student’s qualification for the particular program – The curricula, requirement and rigor for different departments are different. A student with genuine acumen for Chemistry shall do better in science courses than design and coding courses. A person with analytic brain should be into Computer Science or Maths. But a rank may not decide the right allocation unless properly counselled. Suicidal rates may increase.

5.       Lesser inclination for Corporates for ‘IITians’. The classic Demand-Supply Theory of Economics applies here also. IITians are/were sought for because they were less in numbers. With increasing supplies, demand has to go down.

6.       Gap between IITians and NITians – The gap shall narrow down further. If we have 23 IIT’s, for what region NIT’s should be there? In case we have IIT’s and NIT’s in same/similar location what and how shall both be differentiated? Why should not both be compared? Policy makers must look into it on serious note and clearly define the vision, mission and goal for both.

Hope the policy makers at Human Resources and Technical Education department has done sufficient SWOT analysis before planning the spread of IIT’s. My sincere request is, kindly don’t create higher supplies, else demand shall go down.

Also, once you have decided to practically give IIT’s to all States, ensure that Autonomy of IIT’s remains and the Dean/Director runs the IIT’s on Standalone Basis. Political interventions and peddling shall further deteriorate the already ‘on-stake’ IIT reputation.

Let the core values of IIT’s be followed in all IIT’s without any restrictions/prohibition/interventions.

Please give your views on positives/negatives.