Unlike the PM, who praised them, vice president finds the institution lacking when compared to the best in the world.
Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) may be the centre of excellence in India, but they seem to have failed to impress the vice-president of India.
Unhappy that IITians are not making a mark at the international level, vice-president Hamid Ansari handed over a list of grudges to them during a convocation function of IIT-Delhi. Instead of the usual showering of praise, the VP decided to do some straight talk with the engineering graduates. He complained about poor academic output based on publications, fewer patents and about the fact none of the IITs ranked among the 100 best institutes in the world. He went as far as to say that India fared poorly in comparison to even some developing countries.
Ansari’s tough words come just a few weeks after prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh had showered praises over IITians during a function in IIT-Kharagpur. Singh had said that IIT alumni have helped immensely in the transformation of India’s image, serving as excellent ambassadors for their country and in issues of governance. The PM had said that the IITs were well represented in his office too in the form of five officers from the institutions.
But Ansari wasn’t in a mood for any such pep talk. He expressed concern over IIT pass-outs shying away from research work while reading out a whole list of grudges. Unhappy with the fact that none of the IITs ranked among the 100 best institutes in the world, the vice president said Indian institutes also fared poorly in terms of international grading of academic output.
“Only IIT-Bombay and IIT-Delhi find a place in the 2009 Times Higher Education ranking of 50 engineering and information technology institutions. However, no Indian university - not even an IIT - figures in the top 100 of the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Institute of Higher Educations Academic Ranking of World Universities, or in the top 100 of the 2009 Times Higher Education World University Rankings,” the vice president said.
“Another set of figures, from the US National Science Foundation, depict the paradox. Students from India and those of Indian origin and numbering 35,300 accounted for over one-third of all foreign engineering students in the United States in 2009. Out of these, around 26,000 students were enrolled in Masters programmes constituting over 65 per cent of all foreign masters students, and 5690 were enrolled in doctoral programmes constituting around one fifth of all foreign doctoral students. These figures shed light on the opportunity loss for our academic institutions, and eventually to the nation, to benefit from the research potential and effort of the best and brightest graduating from our engineering institutions, including the IITs,” Ansari said.
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