When Kapil Sibal took over the education ministry, he promised autonomy and all manner of changes in the sector. Just how sincere the government was about this is best seen with what is happening in the IITs right now.
No one can doubt that the IITs are the best institutions we have and they are among the few that show up in any global ranking. Yet, the IIT professors are being forced to beg for a salary hike in the same manner that a Class IV employee would do — through hunger strikes. What can be more demeaning than a professor having to ask for money? And, at the same time, the government wants the IITs to become more multi-disciplinary, to make room for more students under the OBC criterion, and to attract more teachers to be able to take on the additional work load. If even the existing teachers are not being paid a decent salary, how are new teachers to be hired? The IITs are a litmus test of the government’s true intentions as far as the education sector is concerned.
Tapan Kumar, New Delhi
