'New IITs are a disaster'

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's initiative to establish eight new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) has drawn flak from his own scientific adviser CNR Rao, who said on Friday that the opening of so many new IITs is a “disaster”.

“Opening so may IITs in one year is a disaster. I had no idea that so many IITs have already come up in our country,” he told reporters on the sidelines of an event at the Federation of Indian Cambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

Six new IITs - in Orissa, Bihar, Rajasthan, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh - have started operations from the current academic session. India now has 13 IITs.

“This is not a play. To open IITs, you need proper planning. There are makeshift campuses and some are even attending classes in old IITs,” said the renowned scientist.

“I came to know about this development after the institutes admitted students. This is sad and I have told the prime minister and even the human resource development minister (Arjun Singh) about this. I am dissatisfied with the developments,” said Rao, a visiting professor at Cambridge University.

IITs are premier engineering colleges of the country. Manmohan Singh has already announced that India will have eight new IITs, including the six opened this year, to boost engineering and technology education.