Indian Insitutes of Technology:time to consolidate gains

Debate

IITs: time to consolidate gains


The seven existing Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) have appreciated tremendously in value since the first one was set up in 1950 to provide engineers to our newly independent nation. They’ve been ranked 3rd (in 2005) amongst the world’s best “technology” universities by the prestigious UK based Times Higher Education Supplement (THES), and 36th worldwide among “science” universities. The 3rd ranking is one up from 4th in 2004 in the “technology” category, but the top two positions as well as 21 of the ones ahead of the IITs in the “science” category are located in the US. This is appropriate if one remembers that the Sarkar Committee (1946) which went into the kind of institution the IIT ought to be, modeled its recommendations on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Clearly, while the administratively autonomous but heavily subsidised IITs have done tremendously well so far - how long can they last on the slippery slope of international competition without the financial muscle to ensure survival let alone growth for the future?


We need to revisit all the assumptions urgently. How much does it cost (direct plus indirect cost and no fudging), to create an IITian? What do the current subsidies actually buy in 2005? What proportion is actually paid by the student fees? How much does IIT pay its lecturers and professors? How much longer will they be able to attract the best teaching talent when full professors are paid a few thousand a month and lesser private institutes pay multiples of this figure? How much is being put into physical infrastructure renewal? And how much into installing high-tech infrastructure? We already know the answers to most of these questions and realize that the IITs are destined to decline rapidly unless they shed their socialist era policies in favour of the US model they were based upon! With the brand equity ruling stronger than a trumpet fanfare currently and the IITian prominent globally, the time may be just right to unlock value to meet the challenges of the future.


The US has been the key beneficiary of IITian excellence because it can best pay for the brilliant young people the institutes have trained over the years. But neither the multi-national corporations that employ IITians nor Indian industry seem to be seriously interested in paying for the sustenance and nurture of the IITs. The alumni, prosperous as they are, have not made more than the occasional grand gesture by way of a few million dollars. At the same time, it is true that every Indian state now wants to set up an IIT and some 5 new ones are already in the works. But, will these, if they come about, be yet more export houses for the cream of Indian talent absurdly subsidised by the Indian taxpayer? The hand-wringing truth in polyester khadi is that the people of India haven’t been getting much return on their investment.


To do the right thing by the owners, the IITs need to charge fair value for services rendered. The demand scenario alone for the IIT seat suggests this as the most obvious self-help solution. By way of comparison, the cost of education in a prestigious private university in the US is around $30,000 – roughly the same as the per capita income. In India, the cost of a year’s tuition, board and lodging at IIT, by the narrowest of accounting parameters, is approximately Rs. 100,000, two and a half times the per capita income of $700-800 (spread over 1.08 billion people on a GDP estimate of 800 billion in fiscal 2005).


There is no compelling reason, given the quality of the education imparted, to avoid charging direct costs at least from the bright students who qualify for a seat at IIT. Only 4% of applicants succeed after all and they are all destined to make big bucks when they pass out. This is the American logic followed by universities in the Ivy League who are able to defray a proportion of the costs for students by drawing down upon handsome endowments made by philanthropic alumni for scholarships. If we cannot do this at first we must remember that student loans are now easily available at competitive rates. Lesser semi-private and private institutes such as Birla Institute of Technology & Science (BITS) and the Manipal Institute of Technology have proven this case by charging full fees inclusive of a sum towards development. They have seen no fall off in demand or standards and make a profit both towards the corpus and in favour of the promoters at the same time.


The Indian Institutes of Technology are a source of immense pride for the nation - to keep them healthy and strong it is time to consolidate our gains.

(800 words)


Title: IITs: time to consolidate gains
By Gautam Mukherjee
CEO, Indus Overseas
email: gautammuk@gmail.com

First appeared in The Pioneer, www.dailypioneer.com
Sunday, 16th October, 2005 (Agenda- Dialogue)
Thursday, October 13, 2005