Indian Institutes of Technology

Madras (Chennai)

Delhi

Guwahati

Kanpur

Kharagpur

Bombay

Roorkee

Bhubaneshwar

Gandhinagar

Hyderabad

Indore

Jodhpur

Mandi

Patna

Rupnagar

Varanasi

Location of the 16 IITs

The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are a group of 16[2] autonomous engineering and technology-oriented institutes of higher education established and declared as Institutes of National Importance by the Parliament of India. 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.

In order of establishment, they are located in Kharagpur (1950; as IIT 1951^[1]), Mumbai (1958), Chennai (formerly Madras) (1959), Kanpur (1959), Delhi (1961; as IIT 1963), Guwahati (1994), Roorkee (1847; as IIT 2001), Ropar (2008), Bhubaneswar (2008), Gandhinagar (2008), Hyderabad (2008), Patna (2008), Jodhpur (2008), Indore (2009) and Mandi (2009). Apart from these ITBHU Varanasi is also slated for conversion as IIT.[3][4] Some IITs were established with financial assistance and technical expertise from UNESCO, Germany, the United States, Japan and the Soviet Union. Each IIT is an autonomous university, linked to the others through a common IIT Council, which oversees their administration. They have a common admission process for undergraduate admissions, using the Joint Entrance Examination (popularly known as IIT-JEE) to select around 8,000 undergraduate candidates a year. Postgraduate admissions are done on the basis of the GATE, JMET, JAM and CEED. About 15,500 undergraduate and 12,000 graduate students study in the IITs, in addition to research scholars.

IIT alumni have achieved success in a variety of professions.^[2] Most of the IITs were created in early 1950s and 1960s as the Institutes of National Importance through special acts of Indian Parliament. The success of the IITs led to the creation of the Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIIT) in the late 1990s and in the 2000s.

Institutes

Main Building of IIT Kharagpur

The sixteen IITs are located in:

All IITs are autonomous universities that draft their own curricula, and they are members of LAOTSE, an international network of universities in Europe and Asia. LAOTSE membership allows the IITs to exchange students and senior scholars with universities in other countries.^[3]

The first IIT was established in 1951, in Kharagpur (near Kolkata) in the state of West Bengal. It has 29 academic departments, centers and schools, spread over an 8.5 square kilometres (2,100 acres) campus that is a self-contained township of over 15,000 inhabitants. It has about 450 faculty; 2,200 employees; 3,000 undergraduates; 2,500 postgraduates and 950 research scholars. The students live in 17 hostels (called Halls of Residence). IIT Kharagpur also has a medical technology school (School of Medical Science and Technology), a management school (Vinod Gupta School of Management, a law school (Rajiv Gandhi School of Intellectual Property Law) and an infrastructure designing school (Ranbir and Chitra Gupta School of Infrastructure Designing and Management) within its premises.

Main Building of IIT Bombay

The second IIT to be established, IIT Bombay, was founded in 1958 in Powai, Mumbai (Bombay). It was set up with assistance from UNESCO and the Soviet Union, which provided technical expertise. The Indian government underwrote all other expenses, including the construction costs.^[4] With an area of 2.23 square kilometres (550 acres) and a total of 24 departments, centres and schools, it is the largest university in the state of Maharashtra. In addition, IIT Bombay has 13 student hostels with about 2,200 undergraduate and 3,500 postgraduate students. IIT Bombay also has schools in management (Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management) and information technology (Kanwal Rekhi School of Information Technology) on its premises. Despite a change in the name of the city, the IIT retains the original name.

IIT Madras is located in the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu. It was established in 1959 with technical assistance from the Government of West Germany^[5] and has nearly 450 faculty members and approximately 2,500 undergraduate and 2,000 postgraduate students. The campus is spread over an area of about 2.5 square kilometres (620 acres), and has 16 academic departments, nearly 100 laboratories, and 17 hostels. As with IIT Bombay, it retains its original name despite a change in the name of its city.

Mathematics department in IIT Delhi with Main Building in background

IIT Kanpur was established in 1959 in the city of Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. During its first 10 years, IIT Kanpur benefited from the Kanpur–Indo-American Programme, where a consortium of nine US universities helped to set up the research laboratories and academic programmes.^[6] It covers an area of 4.85 square kilometres (1,200 acres). It has approximately 500 faculty members, and about 2,000 undergraduate and an equal number of postgraduate students live in 10 hostels.

Established as the College of Engineering in 1961, IIT Delhi was given the current name and declared an Institution of National Importance under the "Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Act, 1963".^[7] It is located in Hauz Khas (New Delhi) and has an area of 1.3 square kilometres (320 acres). It has 11 hostels and 26 departments, centres and schools. It has 426 faculty members and approximately 2,200 undergraduate and 1,600 postgraduate students.

Academic Complex, IIT Guwahati

IIT Guwahati was established in 1994 near the city of Guwahati (Assam) on the northern banks of the Brahmaputra River. The sprawling 2.85 square kilometres (700 acres) campus attracts many visitors because of its scenic beauty.^[8] There are approximately 1,300 undergraduate and 500 postgraduate students in 14 departments, which have a total of 152 faculty members.^[9]

Main (Administrative) Building, IIT Roorkee

IIT Roorkee was established in 1847 as the first engineering college of the British Empire.^[10] Located in Uttarakhand, this college was named The Thomson College of Civil Engineering in 1854. It became first technical university of India in 1949 and was renamed "University of Roorkee". The University of Roorkee was included in the IIT system in 2001 as IIT Roorkee. It runs eleven Under Graduate, five Integrated Dual Degree, three Integrated M.Tech., three Integrated M.Sc., 61 Post Graduate and several Doctoral Programmes.^[11] The campus also includes the Department of Management Studies (DOMS), offering MBA courses. It has an academic staff strength of 342 as per the session of 2007-2008.^[12] The Institute has two campuses. The main campus is at Roorkee in Uttarakhand and the other one is 50 km away at Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh. The campus at Roorkee is spread over 356 acres (1.44 km²) of landscaped lush greenery and has twelve students hostels. A 10-acre (40,000 m²) campus is being developed as an extension centre at Greater Noida.^[13]

Transit Campus of IIT Hyderabad located at Ordinance Factory(ODF).

IIT Hyderabad is the eighth among currently the fifteen IITs. IIT Hyderabad started in 2008 from a temporary campus at Ordinance Factory(ODF), Yeddumailaram village. Its permanent campus will be located at Kandi near Sangareddy and is close to the Outer Ring Road (Hyderabad). United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Mrs Sonia Gandhi on 27th Feb 2009 laid the foundation stone for the permanent campus of the IIT Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh's Medak district.^[14] The admission of the First batch of students of IIT Hyderabad took place in Aug 2008 and their classes were conducted from 4th Aug 2009, onwards in its temporary campus with help of mentor IIT Madras. On May 15, 2009 IIT Hyderabad got Prof.U. B. Desai as its first director.^[15] IIT Hyderabad permanent campus that occupies a 2.2 km² (550 acres) area, that is part of the Kandhi village, Medak district. Presently The institute has nearly 60 faculty, 330 B.Tech students, 110 M.Tech students, 70 research scholr and 40 administrative and supporting staff. IIT Hyderabad has established itself as a premier centre for teaching, research and industrial consultancy in the country. The IIT Hyderabad has 10 academic departments and research centres across various disciplines of engineering and pure sciences, with well equipped laboratories at temporary campus.

Transit Campus of IIT Mandi at Mandi Town.

IIT Mandi is the youngest among the fifteen IITs. Foundation stone for its permanent campus was laid in Kamand, Mandi on February 24, 2009.^[16] The admission of the First batch of students of IIT Mandi took place in July 2009 and their classes were conducted from 27th July 2009, onwards in its mentor IIT, IIT Roorkee. On January 15, 2010 IIT Mandi got Prof. Timothy A. Gonsalves as its first director.^[16] From the academic year 2010-2011 institute will function from its transit campus at V.M. College of Arts, Mandi, India. It is the only IIT nestled in the lowermost climatic zone of the serene Himalayas in Himachal Pradesh. Permanent campus (about 12 km from historic town of Mandi) spread over 520 acres is under construction along Uhl River (a tributry of River Beas) at Kamand, Mandi. The institute admits students into various B.Tech. , Ph.D. (as of 2010) programs.

History

The office of the Hijli Detention Camp (photographed September 1951) served as the first academic building of IIT Kharagpur.

The history of the IIT system dates back to 1946 when Sir Jogendra Singh of the Viceroy's Executive Council set up a committee whose task was to consider the creation of Higher Technical Institutions for post-war industrial development in India. The 22-member committee, headed by Nalini Ranjan Sarkar, recommended the establishment of these institutions in various parts of India, with affiliated secondary institutions.

The first Indian Institute of Technology was founded in May 1950 at the site of the Hijli Detention Camp in Kharagpur. On September 15, 1956, the Parliament of India passed the Indian Institute of Technology (Kharagpur) Act, declaring it as an Institute of National Importance. Jawaharlal Nehru, first Prime Minister of India, in the first convocation address of IIT Kharagpur in 1956 said:^[17]

On the recommendations of the Sarkar Committee, four campuses were established at Mumbai (1958), Chennai (1959), Kanpur (1959), and Delhi (1961). The location of these campuses was chosen to be scattered throughout India to prevent regional imbalance.^[18] The Indian Institutes of Technology Act was amended to reflect the addition of new IITs.^[19] Student agitations in the state of Assam made Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi promise the creation of a new IIT in Assam. This led to a sixth campus at Guwahati under the Assam Accord in 1994. The University of Roorkee, India's oldest engineering college, was conferred IIT status in 2001.

IITG estd. 1994

Over the past few years, there have been a number of developments toward establishing new IITs. On October 1, 2003, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee announced plans to create more IITs "by upgrading existing academic institutions that have the necessary promise and potential".^[20] Subsequent developments led to the formation of the S K Joshi Committee in November 2003 to guide the selection of the five institutions which would become the five new IITs. Based on the initial recommendations of the Sarkar Committee, it was decided that further IITs should be spread throughout the country. When the government expressed its willingness to correct this regional imbalance, 16 states demanded IITs. Since the S K Joshi Committee prescribed strict guidelines for institutions aspiring to be IITs,^[21] only seven colleges were selected for final consideration.^[22] Plans are also reported to open IITs outside India, though not enough progress has been made in this regard.^[23] Eventually in the 11th Five year plan, eight states were identified for establishment of new IITs, and IT-BHU was recommended to be converted in to IIT. ^[24].

Organisational structure

Organisational Structure of IITs

The President of India is the most powerful person in the organisational structure of IITs, being the ex officio Visitor,^[25] and having residual powers. Directly under the President is the IIT Council, which comprises the minister-in-charge of technical education in the Union Government, the Chairmen of all IITs, the Directors of all IITs, the Chairman of the University Grants Commission, the Director General of CSIR, the Chairman of IISc, the Director of IISc, three members of Parliament, the Joint Council Secretary of Ministry of Human Resource and Development, and three appointees each of the Union Government, AICTE, and the Visitor.^[26]

Under the IIT Council is the Board of Governors of each IIT. Under the Board of Governors is the Director, who is the chief academic and executive officer of the IIT.^[27] Under the Director, in the organisational structure, comes the Deputy Director. Under the Director and the Deputy Director, come the Deans, Heads of Departments, Registrar, President of the Students' Council, and Chairman of the Hall Management Committee. The Registrar is the chief administrative officer of the IIT and overviews the day-to-day operations.^[27] Below the Heads of Department (HOD) are the faculty members (Professors, Associate Professors, and Assistant Professors). The Wardens come under the Chairman of the Hall Management Committee.^[28]

Admission

Admission to undergraduate B. Tech and integrated M. Tech programs are through IIT-JEE (the Joint Entrance Examination) in which around 400,000 students appear annually out of which only 7,500 get selected. Admission to most postgraduate courses in IITs is granted through various written entrance examinations: GATE (for M.Tech.), JAM (for M.Sc.) and CEED (for M.Des.). The admission for Ph.D. program is based primarily on a personal interview, though candidates may also have to appear for written tests.

Entrance examinations

Entrance of IIT Madras

Admission to undergraduate programs in all IITs is tied to the Joint Entrance Examination, popularly known as IIT-JEE. Candidates opting for the B.Arch. (Bachelor of Architecture) program in IIT Kharagpur, and the B.Des. (Bachelor of Design) program in IIT Guwahati, have to clear an aptitude test as well. Candidates who qualify admission via IIT-JEE can apply for admission in B.Tech. (Bachelor of Technology), Dual Degree (Integrated Bachelor of Technology and Master of Technology) and Integrated M.Sc. (Master of Sciences) courses in IITs, IT-BHU and ISM Dhanbad. IIT-JEE is a science-oriented entrance exam, testing candidate's knowledge of mathematics, physics and chemistry. It is conducted by an IIT chosen by a policy of rotation. Admission is very competitive since the entrance exam is generally considered tough and also because of the very high number of test takers; the undergraduate acceptance rate through JEE has a low ratio (around 1 in 60) with about 400,000^[29] annual test takers for about 9,500 seats.^[30] Only about 4,000 of these seats are offered by IITs, the rest belonging to other institutes that use IIT-JEE. Only students who have completed their 12th and secured at least 60% in their exam (higher secondary studies from a recognised educational board) are allowed to appear for IIT-JEE. The IIT-JEE is well known for frequently changing the types of questions asked in order to discourage study by rote. In recent years, though the level of questions have become easier, the competition for a seat in an IIT has grown exponentially. Since IIT-JEE 2006, the format of the question paper was changed to a single objective test-based paper, replacing the earlier system that employed two tests. The candidates belonging to the general category must secure a minimum aggregate of 60% marks in the qualifying examination of the XII^th standard organised by various educational boards of India. Candidates belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Physically Disabled (PD) categories must secure a minimum aggregate of 55% in the qualifying examination.^[31] The upper age limit for appearing for the [IIT-JEE] is 25 years. The age limit is relaxed to 30 years for candidates classified in the SC, ST and PD categories. Starting with IIT-JEE 2007, a candidate can take IIT-JEE a maximum of two times, and students who are selected for an IIT cannot attempt the examination again.^[31] Students select their institute and department of study based on what is available at the time of their counselling and interview that follows the IIT-JEE result. The interviews are usually spread over five days.

The admissions into the postgraduate programmes are made through various exams, primarily the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) for Ph.D., M.Tech., and some MS courses. This exam tests the conceptual clarity in technical subjects and is one of the most difficult in the country. Other prominent entrance exams include JAM (Joint Admission to M.Sc.) for M.Sc., and JMET (Joint Management Entrance Test) for Management Studies.

Reservation policy

IIT has an affirmative action policy on caste-based reserved quotas. As per the provisions in the Indian constitution, the IITs have been reserving seats for Scheduled Castes of society since 1973. The IITs follow a reservation policy that is notably different from the quota policy elsewhere in India. As per the rules of admission to IITs, 15% of the admitted students must be of the Scheduled Castes, and 7.5% of seats are reserved for Scheduled Tribes.^[32] The Other Backward classes have been provided with 27% reservation in effect from 2008 with the consent of the Supreme Court of India. As per the rules, all the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidates must take the IIT-JEE with the rest of the students. Based on the results of IIT-JEE but using relaxed admissions criteria, SC and ST candidates are offered admission.^[32] Another group of candidates who do not meet this relaxed admission criteria are offered a "Preparatory Course" comprising of Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics at the IIT concerned. After one year of study, those candidates who are able to secure a grade higher than the prescribed cut-off mark are offered admission to the regular undergraduate degree programs. There is no relaxation on the criteria for passing the exams or graduating a course. The candidates admitted through the reservation policy are also subjected to the same criteria as the general candidates for graduation.

In 1989, Prime Minister V. P. Singh accepted and implemented the proposals of the Mandal Commission that recommended provisions of reservations for OBCs in private unaided institutions as well as high-end government jobs for minority communities. No changes took place in the IITs because of the legislation, but in 2005, based on the recommendations of a political panel, the UPA government proposed to implement the reserved-quota system for the OBCs in IITs and IIMs. It received critical objections by many scholars and critics, who described the proposal as "dangerous and divisive" and based solely on political (vote-bank) purposes. Many argued that the OBCs are not a backward community and enjoy good economic and social status and thus a reservation for OBCs becomes a mere strategy to gain votes. Though, the issue has simmered down as of now, it still remains a very hotly argued one.^[33] When the government planned to implement the quota system, anti-reservation protests were organised throughout India against the proposal. Student agitations also took place in the IITs and many students who opposed caste-based reservations resorted to hunger strikes. They labelled the quota system as a government tactic to earn cheap votes, and that the system would lead to increased casteism and a severe compromise on merit and talent.^[34]

The additional procedures for admission into the IITs (the preparatory course and the qualifying end-of-semester exams that follow) have also been criticised as unnecessary and counter-productive. One of the arguments opposing the modified policy of reservation and favouring direct admission is that a large number of seats remain vacant under the present scheme.^[35]

Reports of Corruption

Indian media has been submitting reports of corruption. The Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur was secretly and illegally keeping aside a discretionary admission quota for children of its professors and staff members for over four decades, admitting dozens of students even though they had not fared well in the IIT-Joint Entrance. As per a report in Hindustan Times, the documents revealed that this premier institute admitted 88 students through the secret quota between 1998 and 2005, including 50 in 2003 and 2004. The quota was never revealed in admission brochures — unlike all other reservations for backward communities that the IITs have. ^[36]

^[37]

Education

PK Kelkar Library, IIT Kanpur

The IITs receive disproportionately high grants compared to other engineering colleges in India.^[38] While the total government funding to most other engineering colleges is around Rs. 100–200 million (USD 2-4 million) per year, the amount varies between Rs. 900–1,300 million (USD 18-26 million) per year for each IIT.^[22] Other sources of funds include student fees and research funding from industry and contributions from the alumni. The faculty-to-student ratio in the IITs is between 1:6 and 1:8.^[39] The Standing Committee of IIT Council (SCIC) prescribes the lower limit for faculty-to-student ratio as 1:9, applied department wise. The IITs subsidise undergraduate student fees by approximately 80% and provide scholarships to all Master of Technology students and Research Scholars in order to encourage students for higher studies, per the recommendations of the Thacker Committee (1959–1961).^[40] The cost borne by undergraduate students including boarding and mess expenses is around Rs. 75,000 per annum. It has increased significantly over past ten years. For instance, the cost was about Rs.12,000 per annum for the students graduating in 1998.

The various IITs function autonomously, and their special status as Institutes of National Importance facilitates the smooth running of IITs, virtually free from both regional as well as student politics. Such autonomy means that IITs can create their own curricula and adapt rapidly to the changes in educational requirements, free from bureaucratic hurdles. The government has no direct control over internal policy decisions of IITs (like faculty recruitment and curricula) but has representation on the IIT Council. The medium of instruction in all IITs is English.^[41] The classes are usually held between 7:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., though there are some variations within each IIT. All the IITs have public libraries for the use of their students. In addition to a collection of prescribed books, the libraries have sections for fiction and other literary genres. The electronic libraries allow students to access on-line journals and periodicals.

The academic policies of each IIT are decided by its Senate. This comprises all professors of the IIT and student representatives. Unlike many western universities that have an elected senate, the IITs have an academic senate. It controls and approves the curriculum, courses, examinations and results, and appoints committees to look into specific academic matters. The teaching, training and research activities of the institute are periodically reviewed by the senate to maintain educational standards.^[42] The Director of an IIT is the ex-officio Chairman of the Senate.

Central Library, IIT Roorkee

All the IITs follow the credits system of performance evaluation, with proportional weighting of courses based on their importance. The total marks (usually out of 100) form the basis of grades, with a grade value (out of 10) assigned to a range of marks. Sometimes, relative grading is done considering the overall performance of the whole class. For each semester, the students are graded on a scale of 0 to 10 based on their performance, by taking a weighted average of the grade points from all the courses, with their respective credit points. Each semester evaluation is done independently and then the weighted average over all semesters is used to calculate the cumulative grade point average (known as CGPA or CPI—Cumulative Performance Index).

Undergraduate education

IIT Madras Library

The B.Tech. degree is the most common undergraduate degree in the IITs in terms of student enrollment, although Dual Degrees, Integrated Master of Science and Master of Arts degrees are also offered. The B. Tech course is based on a 4-year program with eight semesters,^[43] while the Dual Degree and Integrated courses are 5-year programs with ten semesters. In all IITs, the first year of B.Tech. and Dual Degree courses are marked by a common course structure for all the students,^[44] though in some IITs, a single department introduction related course is also included.^[45] The common courses include the basics from most of the departments like Electronics, Mechanics, Chemistry, and Physics. At the end of first year (the end of first semester at IIT Madras), an option to change departments is given to meritorious students on the basis of their performance in the first two semesters.^[46] Few such changes ultimately take place as the criteria for them are usually strict,^[46] limited to the most meritorious students.

From the second year onwards, the students study subjects exclusively from their respective departments.^[47] In addition to these, the students have to take compulsory advanced courses from other departments in order to broaden their education. Separate compulsory courses from humanities and social sciences department, and sometimes management courses are also enforced.^[48] At the end of third year, the undergraduate students have to undertake a summer project at an industry or reputed academic institute as part of the curriculum. In the last year of their studies, most of the students are placed into industries and organisations via the placement process of the respective IIT, though some students opt out of this either when going for higher studies or when they take up jobs by applying to the companies directly.^[49]

Postgraduate and doctoral education

The IITs offer a number of postgraduate programs including Master of Technology (M.Tech.), Master of Business Administration (MBA) (only for engineers and post graduates in science), and Master of Science (M.Sc.). Some IITs offer specialised graduate programmes such as the Post Graduate Diploma in Information Technology (PGDIT), Master in Medical Science and Technology (MMST), Master of City Planning (MCP), Master of Arts (MA), Postgraduate Diploma in Intellectual Property Law (PGDIPL), Master of Design (M.Des.), and the Postgraduate Diploma in Maritime Operation & Management (PGDMOM). The IITs also offer the Doctor of Philosophy degree (Ph.D.) as part of their doctoral education programme. In it, the candidates are given a topic of academic interest by the professor or have to work on a consultancy project given by the industries. The duration of the program is usually unspecified and depends on the specific discipline. Ph.D. candidates have to submit a dissertation as well as provide an oral defence for their thesis. Teaching Assistantships (TA) and Research Assistantships (RA) are often provided. Some of the IITs offer an M.S. (by research) program; the M.Tech. and M.S. are similar to the US universities' non-thesis (course based) and thesis (research based) masters programs respectively. The IITs, along with NITs and IISc, account for nearly 80% of all PhDs in engineering.^[50]

The IITs also offer an unconventional B.Tech. and M.Tech. integrated educational program called "Dual Degree". It integrates undergraduate and postgraduate studies in selected areas of specialisation. It is completed in five years^[51] as against six years in conventional B.Tech. (four years) followed by an M.Tech. (two years).^[52]Integrated Master of Science programs are also offered at few IITs which integrates the Undergraduate and Postgraduate studies in Science streams in a single degree program against the conventional University system. These programme was started to allow IITians to complete postgraduate studies from IIT rather than having to go to another institute. All IITs (except IIT Guwahati) have schools of management offering degrees in management or business administration.

Culture and student life

All the IITs provide on-campus residential facilities to the students, research scholars and faculty. The students live in hostels (sometimes referred to as halls) throughout their stay in the IIT. Students in all IITs must choose between National Cadet Corps (NCC), National Service Scheme (NSS) and National Sports Organisation (NSO) in their first years.^[53] All the IITs have sports grounds for cricket, football (soccer), hockey, volleyball, lawn tennis, badminton, and athletics; and swimming pools for aquatic events. Usually the hostels also have their own sports grounds.

Technical and cultural festivals

All IITs organise annual technical festivals, typically lasting three or four days. The technical festivals are Kshitij (IIT Kharagpur), Techfest (IIT Bombay), Cognizance (IIT Roorkee), Shaastra (IIT Madras), Techkriti (IIT Kanpur), Tryst (IIT Delhi), and Techniche (IIT Guwahati). Most of them are organised in the months of January or March. While Techfest is most popular in terms of participants and prize money involved and also conducted at a totally different scale, Shaastra holds the distinction of being the first student-managed event in the world to implement a formal Quality Management System, earning the ISO 9001:2000 certification.^[54] Kshitij is the largest in terms of Sponsorship amounts and also branded as a techno-management festival due to its emphasis on both technology and management.

Annual cultural festivals are also organised by the IITs and last three to four days. These include Spring Fest (IIT Kharagpur) (also known as SF), Rendezvous (IIT Delhi), Thomso & Tarang (previously Rave) (IIT Roorkee), Mood Indigo (IIT Bombay) (also known as Mood-I), Saarang (IIT Madras) (previously Mardi Gras), Antaragni (IIT Kanpur), Alcheringa (IIT Guwahati).

Illumination festival in IIT Kharagpur. The outlines are made by earthen lamps.

In addition to these cultural festivals, IIT Kharagpur and IIT Bombay celebrate unique festivals. IIT Kharagpur celebrates the Illumination festival on the eve of Diwali. Large bamboo structures (called chatais) as high as 6 metres (20 ft) are made and earthen lamps (diyas) are placed on them to form outlines of people, monuments, or an event.^[55] The competition is held between hostels, it does not receive entries by outside visitors. Coupled with the Illumination festival is the Rangoli festival. In Rangoli, large panels showing an event or a concept, are made on the ground by fine powder, and sometimes even by crushed bangles or other innovative materials.

Unique to IIT Bombay is the Performing Arts Festival (popularly known as PAF). Technically a drama, each PAF includes drama, literature, music, fine arts, debating, and dance. All PAFs are held in the Open Air Theater (OAT), on the main campus of IIT Bombay. Typically two or three hostels (of 14) group together by random draw for each PAF. All of the dialogues are delivered as voice overs and not by the actors, mainly due to the structure and the huge size of the OAT. Recently, IIT Guwahati has also started this Performing Arts Festival (PAF).

Recognition

IITs have a special status as Institutes of National Importance under the Indian Institute of Technology Act, due to which the degrees provided by IITs need not be recognized by the AICTE.^[56] The IIT-JEE is another important factor behind the success of IITs, as it enables the IITs to accept only a select group of meritorious students. This combination of success factors has led to the concept of the IIT Brand.^[57] Other factors that have contributed to the success of IITs are stringent faculty recruitment procedures and industry collaboration. The procedure for selection of faculty in IITs is stricter as compared to other colleges offering similar degrees.^[58] The Ph.D. degree is a pre-requisite for all regular faculty appointments.

Former IIT students get greater respect from their peers, academia and industry in general.^[59] The IIT brand was reaffirmed when the United States House of Representatives passed a resolution honoring Indian Americans and especially graduates of IIT for their contributions to the American society.^[2] Similarly, China also recognised the value of IITs and planned to replicate the model.^[60]

Educational rankings

Most IITs are consistently ranked above any other engineering colleges in India in engineering education surveys,^[61] with regard to quality of faculty, teaching standards, research facilities and campus placements. In international surveys however, the IITs fail to achieve the highest rankings, though they figure in most lists of top engineering institutions. IIT Bombay was ranked 30th in the world in The Times Higher Education Supplement- QS World University Rankings 2009 - Engineering/Technology.^[62] The Times Higher Education Supplement (2008) ranked IIT-Delhi and IIT-Bombay 157^th and 174 ^th best overall universities respectively in their World University Rankings.^[63] The THES also ranked 5 IITs in the top 100 globally for technology with IIT-Bombay ranking the highest at 36^th. For Natural Sciences, IIT-Bombay ranked 77^th and was the only IIT to feature in the 2008 rankings. In the Shanghai Jiao Tong University's Academic Ranking of World Universities, only one IIT (IIT Kharagpur) was listed among the top 500 universities worldwide.^[64] The IITs fall short in many parameters that are considered for educational rankings. The criteria for ranking^[65] prominently include internationally recognised research output, in which the IITs do not achieve notable success.^[66] Another criterion being the Social Science Citation Index, the rank of IITs suffers as they do not have large departments of liberal arts and social sciences. Since the IITs have only a few international faculty and students (except those by exchange programs), the rankings of IITs in many international surveys have suffered. Since the IITs have scored better under most educational ranking criteria than other Indian colleges and universities, they continue to achieve top positions in nationwide surveys.^[67]

The IITs rank 57th in the world's top 200 universities list. The Times Higher Education Supplement, an authoritative journal in academia, announced the third edition of the rankings.

In the list of the world's top 100 science universities, the IITs rank 33rd. ^[68]

Criticism

The IITs have faced criticism from within and outside academia. Major concerns include allegations that they encourage a brain drain and that their stringent entrance examinations encourage coaching colleges and skew the socio-economic profile of the student body.

Brain drain

Among the criticisms of the IIT system by the media and academia, a common notion is that it encourages brain drain. However, and rather fortunately, this trend has been reversed somewhat -- and is dubbed the reverse brain drain -- as hundreds of IIT graduates, who have pursued further studies in the USA, are returning to India over the last decade. Additionally, IIT alumni are giving back generously to their parent institutions examples are: Kanwal Rekhi to IIT Bombay, Dr. Prabhakant Sinha to IIT Kharagpur, and many others). Until liberalisation started in early 1990s, India experienced large scale emigration of IITians to developed countries, especially to the United States. Since 1953, nearly twenty-five thousand IITians have settled in the USA.^[69] Since the USA benefited from subsidised education in IITs at the cost of Indian taxpayers' money, critics say that subsidising education in IITs is useless. Others support the emigration of graduates, arguing that the capital sent home by the IITians has been a major source of the expansion of foreign exchange reserves for India, which, until the 1990s, had a substantial trade deficit.

The extent of intellectual loss has receded substantially over the past decade, with the percentage of students going abroad dropping from as high as 70% to around 30% today.^[70] This is largely attributed to the liberalisation of the Indian economy and the opening of previously closed markets. Government initiatives are encouraging IIT students into entrepreneurship programs and are increasing foreign investment. Emerging scientific and manufacturing industries, and outsourcing of technical jobs from North America and Western Europe have created opportunities for aspiring graduates in India. Many undergraduates go abroad to pursue further studies, such as MS, MBA and PhD.

Entrance competition

The highly competitive examination in the form of IIT-JEE has led to establishment of a large number of coaching institutes throughout the country that provide intensive, and specific preparation for the IIT-JEE for substantial fees. It is argued that this favors students from specific regions and richer backgrounds. Some coaching institutes say that they have individually coached nearly 800 successful candidates year after year.^[71] According to some estimates, nearly 95% of all students who clear the IIT-JEE had joined coaching classes.^[72] Indeed, this was the case regarding preparation for IIT entrance exams even decades ago. In a January 2010 lecture at the Indian Institute of Science, the 2009 Nobel laureate in Chemistry, Venkatraman Ramakrishnan revealed that he failed to get a seat at any of the colleges of the Indian Institutes of Technology, as well as at an Indian medical college.^[73] He also said that his parents, being old-fashioned, did not believe in coaching classes to prepare for the IIT entrance exam and considered them to be "nonsense". ^[73]

Not all children are of a similar aptitude level and may be skilled in different paradigms and fields. This has led to criticism of the way the examinations are conducted and the way a student is forced in the Indian community. The IIT-JEE format was restructured in 2006 following these complaints.^[74] After the change to the objective pattern of questioning, even the students who initially considered themselves not fit for subjective pattern of IIT-JEE decided to take the examination. Though the restructuring was meant to reduce the dependence of students on coaching classes, it led to an increase in students registering for coaching classes.^[29] Some people (mostly IITians) have criticised the changed pattern of the IIT-JEE. Their reasoning is that while IIT-JEE traditionally used to test students understanding of fundamentals and ability to apply them to solve tough unseen problems, the current pattern does not stress much on the application part and might lead to a reduced quality of students.^[75]

Alumni

Vinod Gupta School of Management in IIT Kharagpur

As of 2008^[update], the alumni of IIT number more than 170,000.^[76] The IITians are known for their loyalty to their alma mater and many IIT Alumni Associations are active in India and abroad. The IIT alumni either help their alma mater in the form of donations, or by preferential job opportunities extended to students from the IITs. The Vinod Gupta School of Management at IIT Kharagpur and Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management at IIT Bombay are management schools within IITs that have been established largely by alumni donations; these schools were named after their benefactors.

Many IIT's alumni have become entrepreneurs, including N.R. Narayana Murthy (co-founder and chairman of Infosys), Rajendra S. Pawar (Co-founder and Chairman of NIIT), Vinod Khosla (co-founder, Sun Microsystems), Anurag Dikshit (co-founder of PartyGaming) and Suhas S. Patil (founder and Chairman Emeritus Cirrus Logic Inc.). Other alumni have achieved leading positions in corporations, such as Rajat Gupta (former Managing Director, McKinsey), Arun Sarin (former CEO, Vodafone), Vijay K. Thadani (Co-founder and CEO of NIIT), Victor Menezes (Senior Vice Chairman, Citigroup), and Kanwal Rekhi (CTO, Novell) . IIT alumni have also pursued careers in politics; for example, Manohar Parrikar became the Chief Minister of Goa. Many alumni have gained national and international recognition: Sushantha Kumar Bhattacharyya was awarded the CBE, a knighthood, and Padma Bhushan; and V. C. Kulandaiswamy was awarded Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan. Arogyaswami Paulraj well known for his work in wireless technology was awarded Padma Bhushan. Narendra Karmarkar is also world-renowned for his work in applied mathematics. Many IITians have contributed a great deal to innovations in science and technology, such as Mani Lal Bhaumik who co-invented the LASIK eye surgery process. They have authored many books and hold many patents.

See also

• Indian Institutes of Management

• National Institutes of Technology

References

Further reading

External links

• IIT Delhi
• IIT Kharagpur
• IIT Madras
• ITBHU Varanasi
• IIT Bombay
• IITK Kanpur
• IIT Roorkee
• IIT Guwahati

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