Premier institutes: costs outweigh benefits
SESHADRI AKELLA
I appreciate the vehemence with which S. Muthukumaran and T. Ramachandran tried to defend the establishing and running of ‘premier’ engineering institutes like IITs (Open Page, May 27) in response to my article which appeared on May 13. The need for such ‘premier’ institutes cannot be overemphasised.
I had only raised issues which question the economic viability of the government holding on to the business of aiding such institutes wherein the costs in my opinion far outweigh the benefits accruing to society. They may only have helped ornamentally in showcasing to the outside world as ‘centres of excellence.’ According to estimates, the subsidy element on every student is as high as 80 per cent.
Citing a few examples of personal successes of IIT graduates in the corporate sector may really not justify the grand social objectives conceived when they were first set up. Such examples do not demonstrate incontrovertible correlation between premier engineering education and corporate success, since such successes also abound of graduates from less known institutes.
An argument often put forth is that there is a serious paucity of opportunities in the mainstream engineering careers as also an unsavoury zeitgeist prevailing in India for graduates from such elite institutions which force them to shift careers or migrate. That it is their inalienable right to choose careers in a democratic set-up is not important. But recognising this as a fait accompli, why put in Herculean efforts to create a special breed of technical geeks, that too at a cost
to the exchequer? It is like manufacturing sledgehammers in an attempt to kill flies.
Having served in the engineering industry for years, I know for sure that even after 40 years of pristine existence of ‘premier’ institutes, the Indian corporate sector continues to import latest basic technologies for all their projects in the power, petrochemical, transportation and refining sectors. This leaves a big question mark as to why after so many years, even a small percentage of such ‘superior skills’ has not percolated enough to industry.
One may feel individually trigger happy securing a fancy designation but I think both individual and collective performance in the corporate sector should be ideally judged by the ability of any firm to reliably produce goods or provide services which stand the test of marketability in the developed markets. It is open for anyone with an unbiased mind to judge.
(The writer is an IIT graduate)
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