“Do you agree with Smriti Irani’s decision to set up even more new IITs”- Readers and their Interesting Opinions in our First Poll Results!

Our readers are our biggest strengths. You tell us your likes and we present all the information in the way best suited to your interests. The engagement you show on our site is unparalleled, and it brings us joy always. We were overwhelmed to see a great response to our new feature- The Poll. And we got such interesting comments that we had to come up with this article to put forth the views of our readers with one and all!

The question for our first poll was: Do you agree with Smriti Irani’s decision to set up even more new IITs? There was a response of 623 answers, which, as the chart depicts was ruled by the ‘Nays’. As we scrutinized the reasons behind the poll results, we found the arguments to be very strong and sound, and thus it added on to our happiness to know that we have an audience which is both aware and knowledgeable in all the respects. Let’s have a look at different arguments which helped us shape up our poll results.

The ideas behind the 64% people saying a “NO” were strong. One of our readers, Harshit Jain, strongly opposed the idea saying how we can think of another set of new IITs, when the older IITs aren’t functioning properly. According to him “Even after 5 years of development, IIT Indore is still running in a private college, they still don’t have proper infrastructure. Many Old IITs still need infrastructure and research environment.” Adding to the same point, Nihal Shandilya commented, “New IITs are already lacking required no of professors and moreover current professors are not among the qualities ones.”

Paramesh contributed to the discussion saying that new IITs might affect the IIT Brand adversely. He said, “It will ruin the brand name of IIT. Before taking the decision, she should conduct survey in the existing IITs. Then she should think about new IITs”. Divyansh added to it saying, “setting up of new IITs will only tarnish the brand.” Taking the plight of existing colleges further, Viraj said that not just IITs, but other colleges in India too need attention for improving quality. Once all this is established, new IITs can be thought about. Further, an anonymous contributor suggested that these so-called research oriented institutions lack a basic quality “Research lab”. Hence before venturing further, Ms. Smriti Irani needs to looks upon these existing shortcomings.

Some of the readers were so agitated on Ms. Irani’s proposal, that they wanted her to resign. Hitendra, an IIT alumnus posted a question for her, “Do you know the basic challenges Indian education system is facing at present?” He further gave her an advice, “You may try to do your best, however that would not be sufficient, as engineering/medical/Commerce are not media industry, in which you have some practical relevance.” Some other readers also said that she is not qualified enough to understand the requirements of the education sector, where on the other hand a few felt that she has not done enough research on the subject.

The arguments in support of the proposal were very less as compared to the Nays, and weren’t that stronger. Some felt that new IITs would improve the standard of education and open more avenues for the deserving students. Also, some felt that the shortcomings in IITs are not much, which should refrain the HRD Ministry from opening some more IITs. Though arguments from both the notion were for the betterment of the Nation, but this time, The Nays had it!

Based on the arguments we got, we have come to a conclusion that what our audience wants from the HRD and in turn Ms. Irani is that, she needs to understand thoroughly about what’s going in the education sector, make an improvement plan, and once it all is established, she may step towards establishment of new IITs (which might happen after her current regime is over!). And to sum up all, we have an interesting example for Ms. Irani by Harshit, “Planning for IITs just like family planning, if you can’t Afford 14, don’t think about to born more!”

Why is Smriti Irani’s Proposal to Set up New IITs in The country a Bane in Disguise?