DNA Edit: Headless institutions

Last month, India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj took to the international platform of United Nations General Assembly and rightfully excoriated Pakistan for being the “export factory for terror”.

In the same breath, she emphasised that India was at the forefront of producing some of the finest minds of this age — from the hallowed corridors of IITs, IIMs — who are at the helm of many tech multinationals and global conglomerates.

While showcasing is a key element in the mechanics of international diplomacy, one must not be remiss in introspecting and reflecting on the actual state of affairs within India’s premier education institutes.

As reported by DNA, as many as nine IITs out of the total 23 are functioning without a chairperson,  of the 20 IIMs, four do not have full-time directors, 15 of 18 IIITs are without a director, 12 of the 31 NITs  and four out of the 47 Central Universities are functioning without permanent heads of institutions. Surprisingly, the HRD ministry has not been treating these vacancies on a priority basis.

When questioned in the last session of Parliament about these rising vacancies, the ministry passed it off as a routine matter, stating that the filling of these vacancies is a continuous process. This is unacceptable. What would IIMs and IITs be if they are to function without the vision, mission, and direction that these key personnel impart to these institutes?

What is to distinguish them and the calibre of their students from other run-of-the-mill managerial and engineering colleges? It is incumbent on them to arm their students not just with technical know-how of their professions, but also with a breadth of creativity that is no less than that of their global counterparts. That cannot happen as long as these premier colleges remain headless.