by Ram V. Kelkar (B. Tech. (EE) 80 / H2)

Editor-in-Chief, Y-Point

" ... a persistent resource crunch, like an army of termites ... eating away into the edifice of ... the IITs ...  why are they killing all these premier institutions ..." - these are the quotes that caught my attention from an article in India Today which you can read below in Y-Point. In concluding the article, the authors say that "the magic sheen of the IITs is slowly fading".

As a proud alumnus of IIT Bombay, it came as a shock to read about the extent of the decline in the infrastructure, even though I had some sense of it from my own visits and based on comments from friends and classmates who had visited Powai in recent years.   Hostels in disrepair, laboratories with obsolete equipment, libraries cutting back on journals, students being asked to live off-campus or double up in tiny rooms ... why are these elite institutions of engineering education being allowed to deteriorate so rapidly ?

The simple fact of the matter is that the decline is inevitable given that funding was frozen at Rs. 200 crores for all the IITs based on nominal 1992-93 levels, with no adjustment for inflation.   While hiking fees and increasing enrollments can help fill  a part of the shortfall, the hard reality is that the IITs have to change to the American model of a university that depends on industry and alumni to build world class educational facilities.

A key requirement if the IITs are to make a successful transition to this new way of making ends meet is to have a strong focus on industry and alumni relations.  Asking academicians and researchers to do double duty and manage these matters while carrying on with regular teaching and research responsibilities will not work.  The IITs must take steps to establish Alumni Affairs and Industry Relations departments staffed with professionals who have a private sector business-like mindset to fund-raising.

Universities in the US - especially business schools - do an excellent job of tapping into the experience, knowledge and pocketbooks of their alumni, regularly contacting them for contributions and drafting them into Advisory Boards.  Many IIT alumni are now holding senior positions in universities and private sector companies across the world.   The IITs should consider establishing a Board of Advisors consisting of such alumni who can give valuable advice to the Director and Board Members in making the transition to the brave new world of self-sufficiency.

The above discussion is especially relevant in the context of the appointment of Prof. S.L. Narayana Murthy as the next Dean for Resources Development for IIT Bombay, who has taken charge from Prof. Phatak as of April 2, 1998.  Prof. Murthy has been a   faculty member in the Chemical Engineering Department since 1964, and he has previously served as the Head of the Chemical  Engineering Department as well as the Dean of Research & Development. I would like to congratulate Prof Murthy on his appointment and would welcome his comments on the State of IIT Bombay and his plans for the future in the next issue of Y-Point.