The IITs And The IIMs

We all know the IITs and the IIMs have the best to offer when it comes to Engineering and Management education in India. I want to set a backdrop before I express my share of opinion about them.

The IITs were created to train scientists and engineers, with the aim of developing a skilled workforce to support the economic and social development of India after independence in 1947. The first IIT was established in 1956 in Kharagpur after the Parliament of India passed the IIT Act, declaring it as an “Institute of National Importance”. These institutes offer education in “cutting edge technology” at a very subsidized rate.

The first IIM was established in 1961 at Ahmedabad to cater to the nation’s requirement of management professionals who would help to catapult India onto the world stage. Again the IIMs are completely financed by the central GOI.

The very institutes that were started for the economic and social good of India started to witness the phenomenon of “Brain Drain”. This was mostly attributed to our country not being able to provide “good job” opportunities. And the big winner in all this was the US. They were getting brilliant minds that were educated in India at the expense of our tax payer’s money. The whole purpose of starting these esteemed institutes was lost. It must have been really frustrating. One positive way to look at it would be look at the money they helped to bring in to our country as foreign investments.

But the situation has changed now after the liberalization policies post 1990s. People are willing to stay back and do something here. People are ready to give up high paying jobs to start their own ventures.

The only way of consoling ourselves at things that happened in the past, is by looking at the kind of work that these guys did which has helped in certain aspects of changing people’s lives and making a difference to humanity in general.