'Hungry' for some autonomy

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Mcuh has been written on the implied 'ethical, moral and intellectual' rectitude of IIT teachers going on hunger strike. The fact is that there is a dichotomy of attitude. There has been a boom in the number of IITs and the student strength in each. When I joined as an IIT faculty in 1965 the Lecture Class had a typical strength of 40. In 2005 when I retired it rose to 350! For quality of attainments, they are compared inequitably with Harvard, Yale and MIT. But student strength, quotas, fee structure, pay structure etc are decided elsewhere. If the elder 5 IITs were completely left to themselves, they would become self-sufficient and more in no time. But in a country like ours it should not be done, because IITs do serve a social purpose. But a limited autonomy in pay structure and academic policies is perhaps not too much to ask for.

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