दृष्टिकोण – Indra's Viewpoint

I never wanted to visit this subject so soon. But there are two reasons for that: First, NDTV had in ‘The Big Fight’ yesterday debated the righteousness of 49. 5 % reservations based on the caste of the parent of the candidates. Second, some 3 lakh students are attempting to compete for IIT’s seats today through its entrance examination.

I wonder why those who decide and discuss about the IITs are all non-IITians even after about 57 years of the start of IITs. Why should the issue be not discussed and debated by the IITians?

I am an IITian, however, as an engineer from IIT one didn’t get any extra advantage such as a higher entry salary. Does an IITian get it today? Even during the professional career, I didn’t get my promotions or increments just because I was from IIT. I am sure it must be the case even today too. I can only advise all who aspire to be engineers to work hard, to be innovative, and different. It is many entrance examinations that one is to cross to succeed professionally almost everyday of active life.
It is only public sector or the government that can protect those who wish to cross today the barrier of right score at IIT-JEE by the birth certificate saying caste. Who but their own ability will help them in the life ahead, once they have chosen to be technocrats?

I am not sure if the reservations in long run will kill the brand image of IITs, as many such as Dr. Indersan, the former director of IIT, Madras predicts. However, I strongly consider the reservation as discriminatory and against human rights of equality. What is this reservation? It allows a student of reserved class getting the admission with a much lower score while one from unreserved caste is denied even after scoring much higher marks in the entrance examination. And the logic of reservation based on centuries of oppression of those castes by the higher castes is divisive and may perpetuate the hatred between the people of different castes. And it is all because of the politicians and their only mission to the vote bank in their favour. I wish the people of the country could realize that.

Today caste doesn’t indicate any prosperity level. If one visits the rural India, the difference becomes obvious. After many divisions over years, a landowner family of higher castes has got only half a hectare of land. Many of so-called lower caste do also own that. And going by the living standard, there is even more equity. Reserved castes are having better accessibility to education and other facilities such as subsidized food grain.

But let us leave all that for the time being. Why, instead of providing reservation and dilution of the standard of IIT for entry, can’t the government bear all the expenditure of the candidates of reserved categories appearing for the IIT-JEE Entrance Examination at the preparatory stages itself? Let the government create a funding and give whatever the candidates require and spend in coaching at school or at specialized institutes, say those at Kota.

Alternatively, the state or central government on its own or through PPP (Public-Private-partnership) establish special preparatory institutes to train some 20,000 best students from reserved categories to compete for the institutes of national importance such as IITs and IIMs. Even the IIT or IIM alumni belonging to the categories can come out with such preparatory institutes.

And I appeal even the intellectuals supporting reservations must also demand that instead of pleading entry with lower score. Let the merit, as criteria must not be compromised for the higher institutes and the jobs. Let there be system of clear grievance handling if some have genuine grievances of partial decision by individual or the system. Let the reservation not perpetuate heart burning and hatred among the people of the same country.

Should someone who keeps Bihar near to his heart not feel bad about Japan’s preference of Andhra Pradesh over Bihar for helping in setting up its IIT? Perhaps, normally I wouldn’t have been shocked to see the news while surfing in early hours of Thursday. “Japan, which was slated to collaborate with the new Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) to come up in Bihar, is now not keen on doing so. Instead, the Japanese are putting their pie on the IIT that is to be set up in Andhra Pradesh.”

It was sometime in 2007 that the media reported Japan’s interest in setting up Bihar’s IIT. I don’t know why Japan showed interest in working in Bihar at that time. Did it expect some miraculous change in law and order situation with the coming in of Nitish’s government that has not materialized?

I myself doubt the seriousness of the interest of Indian delegation in pleading the case of Bihar. It would have pleaded the case of balanced development of the different regions of the country to Japan. With my experiences of dealing with Japanese from different automakers, I know they need to be really convinced to get into any business. That was the reason that its first attempt to come in India’s auto sector in big way failed. Only Suzuki could establish itself strongly in India.

Why should India allow Japan to discriminate between the states for IIT? But I do agree that accessibility of Hyderabad is far better, more so with new International airport. With many industries all around, Hyderabad is certainly a better choice today. But was that the consideration when Late Dr. BC Roy could get the first IIT located at Kharagpur. What were the means to access Kharagpur but railways or very poor roads? Moreover, it for the government at the center that can materially change the accessibility. Patna or Boddha Gaya can easily be changed into an International hub for air traffic linking the whole of East Asia that is Buddhist.

The bogey of law and order is a creation of Indians more than the Japanese. Unfortunately, it is the Indian bureaucracy and the in-flight of the political leaders from Bihar in New Delhi that are damaging the case for the development of Bihar.

The media report has mentioned the name of Sanjeev Sinha, director (new business group), UBS Investment Bank, as the mediator between the Indian and Japanese governments. As I understand he is an IIT alumnus. I wish he explained the role played by the delegation to convince Japanese about the case of Bihar in detail. It should not be just a one-sentence statement rejecting the case of Bihar. If law and order is the reason, nothing should come up in Noida and Gurgaon.

The news is shocking and derogatory too. I wish the chief minister and the people of Bihar take a note of it and see how hard they are to work to wash off the poor perception about Bihar in India as well as abroad.

I have a reason to be happy, rather to be obliged to the Almighty. Coming from an insignificant family of farm holders in a remote Bihar’s village, my grandfather, a teacher by profession could dare to educate me in the best institutes such as Presidency College Calcutta, and IIT, Kharagpur. Perhaps, the credit should go the institutes too that had so little fees. I was going through the diaries of my grandfather. He used to send Rs 40 or Rs 50 by TMO to me in those days. My monthly expenditures (1957-1961 in IIT) were hardly Rs 100 or perhaps less. But that was a lot of money for him and the diaries mention of extreme difficulties to arrange it. I was really lucky to have my grandfather who looked after my every need in those days. He used to come to pick me from Kharagpur before vacations and to see me off to the nearest railway station, Uluberia while going to Kharagpur even at that age. He was working at Birlapur near Calcutta in those days.

I am happier today to see my three sons also graduating from engineering colleges. Rakesh went to IIT, Khargpur; Rajesh to BIT, Mesra; and Anand to NIT, Kurukshetra. I wonder how I managed it, as for some time at least two of them used to be in colleges. Perhaps, it was also because the institutes demanded very little money as fees. While Rakesh spent about Rs 500-600 per month, Rajesh managed in Rs 1000-1200, and Anand took Rs 1500 or so.

I got a shock of my life to read today the proposed increase of the fee of IITs today. The news carried some informative figure of interest too. I got emotionally inspired to make this personal entry that speak of my time.

The seven IITs charge an annual tuition fee ranging from Rs 21,000 to Rs 27,000, which is likely to go up to Rs 50,000 when the fresh 2008 batch enters these institutions. Since the inception of the IITs till about 1998, the annual fee in the IITs was Rs 500. “This fee was set by the ministry taking into account a formula – a third of the education cost must be borne by the students, another third should be earned by the IITs (through research, gifts and endowments) and the remaining must be subsidized by the government,” said P V Indiresan, a former director of IIT, Chennai. Then, in 1953, the cost of education at MIT was Rs 1,560 and it was Rs 1,420 at the Imperial College, London. The IIT fee was set at Rs 1,500 and students paid a third.

I don’t know how many of the middle-class families could afford it without resorting to bank loan that was neither available in our days nor I would have felt convenient even if it would have been possible. I wish, I were wrong in under-estimating the financial strengths of the middle class Indians at present time.

I personally feel IITs should not charge any fee from those who compete its extremely tough entrance tests because of their exceptional merits. The selected ones are certainly the cream of the country and they all deserve the waivers of the fees for their performance as award or reward of the central government, as IITs are central institutes. In a country where more than 6 lakh students join engineering courses in so many of its public and private engineering colleges, the government can certainly finance the education of its 4000 best students. And in return the nation may expect them to pay back by their ideas and means.

I am sure the directors of IITs could find better and innovative avenues for raising its resources and cutting down its wastages. One of that may be extensive involvement of the students with the paid projects in the industry. Alumni and industry can also come forward to create fund for the institutes as it happens in US.

With the IITs coming up in every state and perhaps very soon to every district quarter, as such the government is going to pull down its brand image. Are IITs trying to retain it by making it exclusive for elitists?

PS: TOI has expressed its view and a counterview has also appeared today on the issue of the exorbitant fee rise proposed by IITs.