Buzz off....OBCs don't need quota at IITs
First, you see seven new colleges being named IITs.
Then you see OBC reservation being extended to IITs.
Why is this government hell bent on killing one of the most enduring institutions of modern India. I must say, PM Manmohan Singh is losing all respect he had as a progressive thinker and a visionary. How can someone, who is credited with ushering Indian economy in the global age lend his name to such retrograde steps. Real politik is all fine, but you must have some values at least.
IITs are built with the sweat and toil of the professors of unfailing integrity and students of impeccable intellect - the politicians have not had any contribution to that and they should positively keep away from them. There is not one institution in India that our unscrupulous political class has developed and is working fine.
IITs are not just an educational institution but one of the rare symbols in a largely corrupt India which stand for honesty, integrity and real talent. It is one of the very few glimmers of hope for people who want to believe that talent, competency and callibre are awarded in India. It is the symbol the world knows India by - and the IITians have contributed in immeasurable ways towards India's progress.
My first feeling on knowing of the plan to bring quota in IITs was one of disbelief - they could not have done this. And the next was outrage - what is the contribution of Karats and Yechuris and Sonia Gandhis and Arjun Singhs to India's development. Who gave them the authority to kill what has been built with so much effort and hard work. Why don't they understand that before destroying an institution like IIT, why not try to build something like that.
The justification for pasting the label of IIT on seven new institutions is that India needs more engineers. Very well then, there are some 25 engineering colleges on both sides of Delhi Ghaziabad highway - why not call all of them as IITs - so we have an IIT Sadar Bazar and an IIT Sabzi Mandi and an IIT Station road.
I mean, is creating an enduring educational institution known for its scholastic and entrepreneurial achievements as simple as changing its name - then why just stop at IIT - why not call them MITs and Harvards and Whartons.
And then the quota bug. I am an OBC and don't come from an affluent background and I know that OBCs don't need quota in IITs. With SC, ST it was still ok, reservation used to be 22.5% which though not great, was still manageable - now they plan to increase seats (bringing in OBC reservation will require seats to be increased by 54%) - again the "paste the label" mentality - if we paste the label of IIT to more students and colleges, we'll have more IITians. If this is true, then why leave aside any engineering college in India - call all of them as IITs.
A huge group of mediocre students and engineers and institutions bearing the label of IITians only discredit the brand, deplete its value and credibility and will demolish one of the very few achievements of Indian system in the last 50 years.
And then, its a disservice to OBCs - a huge one at that. I am an OBC and I am an IITian. I hold my head high and say that I competed against the best of the best and achieved what I did on merit. I know a lot of other OBCs who qualified for IIT on merit.
No body has the right to take that away from me. Nobody has any right to take that feeling from scores of other OBCs who will qualify IIT JEE on merit in the years to come. We don't need this largesse. Thank you.
Then you see OBC reservation being extended to IITs.
Why is this government hell bent on killing one of the most enduring institutions of modern India. I must say, PM Manmohan Singh is losing all respect he had as a progressive thinker and a visionary. How can someone, who is credited with ushering Indian economy in the global age lend his name to such retrograde steps. Real politik is all fine, but you must have some values at least.
IITs are built with the sweat and toil of the professors of unfailing integrity and students of impeccable intellect - the politicians have not had any contribution to that and they should positively keep away from them. There is not one institution in India that our unscrupulous political class has developed and is working fine.
IITs are not just an educational institution but one of the rare symbols in a largely corrupt India which stand for honesty, integrity and real talent. It is one of the very few glimmers of hope for people who want to believe that talent, competency and callibre are awarded in India. It is the symbol the world knows India by - and the IITians have contributed in immeasurable ways towards India's progress.
My first feeling on knowing of the plan to bring quota in IITs was one of disbelief - they could not have done this. And the next was outrage - what is the contribution of Karats and Yechuris and Sonia Gandhis and Arjun Singhs to India's development. Who gave them the authority to kill what has been built with so much effort and hard work. Why don't they understand that before destroying an institution like IIT, why not try to build something like that.
The justification for pasting the label of IIT on seven new institutions is that India needs more engineers. Very well then, there are some 25 engineering colleges on both sides of Delhi Ghaziabad highway - why not call all of them as IITs - so we have an IIT Sadar Bazar and an IIT Sabzi Mandi and an IIT Station road.
I mean, is creating an enduring educational institution known for its scholastic and entrepreneurial achievements as simple as changing its name - then why just stop at IIT - why not call them MITs and Harvards and Whartons.
And then the quota bug. I am an OBC and don't come from an affluent background and I know that OBCs don't need quota in IITs. With SC, ST it was still ok, reservation used to be 22.5% which though not great, was still manageable - now they plan to increase seats (bringing in OBC reservation will require seats to be increased by 54%) - again the "paste the label" mentality - if we paste the label of IIT to more students and colleges, we'll have more IITians. If this is true, then why leave aside any engineering college in India - call all of them as IITs.
A huge group of mediocre students and engineers and institutions bearing the label of IITians only discredit the brand, deplete its value and credibility and will demolish one of the very few achievements of Indian system in the last 50 years.
And then, its a disservice to OBCs - a huge one at that. I am an OBC and I am an IITian. I hold my head high and say that I competed against the best of the best and achieved what I did on merit. I know a lot of other OBCs who qualified for IIT on merit.
No body has the right to take that away from me. Nobody has any right to take that feeling from scores of other OBCs who will qualify IIT JEE on merit in the years to come. We don't need this largesse. Thank you.
posted by Prashant @ 2:39 PM
6 Comments:
At 2:35 PM,
S said…
Lallan, no arguments about the reservation bit. However if a college is being given the name "IIT" it is not necessarily bad. If the Govt intends to make it on a similar level as existing IITs, if the infrastructure and faculty is of top quality and the JEE remains the arbiter, then i dont see any problem. I do agree that the above are difficult to achieve but not impossible.
At 4:49 PM,
Prashant said…
s,
Thats exactly what my point is. By all means, do create new institutions of excellence but please remember that it takes a lot more than just pasting the label.
What it would entail is a sustained supply of resources and complete non-interference from our politicos. Dedicated academicians, if given a free hand and sufficient resources can do wonders. The point is, will our political class let them do it?
And the story doesn't stop at infrastructure and resources. No doubt, they are essential, but what makes an institution really great is something more than that.
I have seen teachers stick to their integrity like zealots, the son of the prof who was the JEE chairman during my time didn't make it to the IIT. I have seen teachers going to great lengths to make students comfortable, understand their problems and encourge them to explore and excel - so much so that whenever I performed baad in his paper, I used to feel such a genuine guilt that I have very rarely felt. But, and this is an importanat but - all professors in IITs are not like that. There are profs you really revere and worship and there are profs you feel, "Well how come he got a teaching job here". The profs that are worshipped by students are the ones that make IITs, or for that matter, any insstitution great. And a very genuine near-crisis IITs are facing is an acute shortage of profs.
My concern is whether we are trying to spread our already scant resources (in terms of quality of profs availabe) too thin?
Another very important point to consider is that any brand reputation is actually a very fragile thing - I mean, it will take just a couple of defective pieces for the reputation of Sony or Mercedes to be razed to smithereens. Hence, we have to be very careful when expanding a brand - a brand that is considered holier than thou by many, across the world. I am not sure if it even occurs to the blokes who are taking these decisions.
My contention is not against creating new engineering institutes of global repute. In fact, my contention is not against creating more IITs - but my contention is against callous decision making motivated by political considerations which threatens to destroy what has been built over so many years.
Create more world class institutes, create more IITs, but for God's sake, don't fool yourself and us in believing that it is as simple as pasting the label - or else, I'd have converted my beat up Ford into Mercedes long back.
The painful part is that people who are making such decisions seem grossly inadequate to understand and appreciate what really makes a great institution; incapable of analyzing whether they are doing allthat needs to be done to ensure that and above all, with ssuspect integrities and intentions.
At 9:03 PM,
aniket said…
Agree with most of it. But I think the reason that an IIT is an IIT is because they take the cream of India's talent when it comes to students...and not necessarily because of great professors..
Also AFAIK the new instis are getting 'IIT status' not the name.
Btw if they get the name it will kill the IIT brotherhood ;-) if not anything else.
At 12:06 AM,
Prashant said…
@Aniket
For large part of it, we both are saying the same thing - though I'd say that IITs being great only due to extraordinary students is just half the picture.
Their being talented only means that they are well poised to make use of the learning and growing environment provided. All of the students, when they enter are just kids who were good at Maths, Physics and analytical thinking - its just raw material. Saying that they do well post IIT simply because they were bright pre-IIT is like saying Michael Angelo created great sculptures simply because he got good stones and rocks.
Students are sharp, no doubt but you can't take the credit away from the system which teaches them both in terms of academics and attitude.
Moreover, if a system consistently selects creme-de-la-creme in a society like India, a lot of credit has to go to the people running the system.
Not sure what you mean about killing the IIT brotherhood - if you meant the feeling of camaraderie, I find no reason to believe having more of them will kill it - if you mean exclusivity, well, in some form or the other, the exclusivity will always be attached to elite institutions. By definition, an institution will only be coveted if not everybody gets in it. Guess some exclusivity comes by definition. Beyond that, of course, good educataion should always be accessible to as many people as possible.
At 2:32 PM,
barbarindian said…
I have a post which I thought you might find relevant:
http://barbarindians.blogspot.com/2006/04/hobsons-choice-for-talented-obcs.html
My blog is not work-safe.
At 11:39 PM,
Rangesh said…
Lallan
I completely agree with you on this madness for extending reservations in the name of fairness and equity. But, tell me, how many original research work has IIT's produced? are IIT's in any way comparable to the great engineering marvels like MIT, stanford? And how do you explain this craze among IIT'ians to find jobs in financial sector, and in jobs that have nothing to do with engineering? and How many IITians actually stay back and serve these countries? Please do reflect on these questions.
Also, Being in IIt is a proof of Hard work, a kind of discipline that is neccessary for success. But it in no ways is a proof "Finest Intellect". Stop pampering yourself with such epithets. I have come across IIT'ians, and these are not "category students" mind you, who you cannot credit with much intellect.
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