Photograph: IISER Pune students organizing an activity at a school in Pune, to convey the excitement of research in pure sciences, way back in 2010.
There is a post taking rounds on Facebook, called "Dear Smriti Irani, stop giving my money to IITians". The author also asks the question- "If IITians are so intelligent and can earn lakhs in their placements, why do they sponge off taxpayers' money"? I think the question is as insightful as this one- If the Bansals could build a billion dollar company, why did they need Mahesh Murthy's precious money?
There is no way a middle class student can cough up Rs 3.4 lakhs a year for his education, let it be at IIT, IIM or even IIPM. The subsidy gives students the luxury of concentrating on their studies and more importantly extra-curricular activities. To add a little context to this question, let me introduce myself. I happen to be an alumni of IISER Pune, an institute set up by Indian Govt to encourage youngsters to pursue pure sciences.
Going by my director's statistics, about Rs25 lakhs are invested in every student of IISER Pune and Rs900 crore is the financial outlay for each IISER. We were provided a stipend of Rs80,000 per year(5000 each month and a contingency amount of Rs20,000). I had managed to save slightly more than half of that amount and had invested in a science media startup called Sciensation.
Arguments against subsidy
1- These students don't work for Indian government
2- Many of them go abroad
3- They don't stick to their specialization, can't they leave it for somebody else who would utilize the training better.
4- Serious issues with IITian turned novelists/film makers etc
5- IITians not joining ISRO/DRDO
6- Can't they take loans instead?
Most of these arguments fall apart if one can look into the details. I do agree that several students land up in IITs due to parental pressure and lack of proper career counselling. However, dropping a smart kid into a wonderful eco-system leads to interesting consequences. Within my limited understanding of these issues, allow me to present my perspective regarding this issue.
An IIT, IISER, IIIT or an IIM stands apart from most other educational institutes in the country. A few students, faculty and buildings don't create a great institution. Rome could be probably be built in a day, but I'm sure a Harvard or a Princeton can't be! The culture in the institute and the student activities bring out the citizens of tomorrow. These institutions manage to infuse enough confidence into a young mind, so that he could dream of conquering the world with his India. Rohit Bansal, Sachin Bansal, Binny Bansal are probably a few famous ones, although IITs boast of some of the finest technology incubators in the country.
If you're computing immediate ROI, you're just having a sales mentality- invest Rs10 and get Rs 15 on the second day. The money spent on IITs/IISERs is a long term investment and India is actually way behind other countries in having world class institutions, especially considering the gigantic population we have. These institutions produce world class intellectuals who contribute to Indian economy, either directly or indirectly.
If you think an aerospace engineer has nothing to do in an e-commerce startup, then good luck! An intellectual is not a robot trained in a university to repeat a pattern of thoughts which produce a desired outcome. We keep hearing that this is the age of interdisciplinary sciences and that borders are rapidly disappearing to give birth to new disciplines. Just yesterday I was told about how particle physicists add immense value as investment consultants in companies trying to model stock markets. There is a big world of opportunities waiting for a computer science graduate, outside what would conventionally be considered his/her territory.
We must produce world class citizens in all spheres of human excellence. It'd definitely be nice if NIFT can produce engineers/scientists too. Diversity of thought is very essential. Apple tries to ensure that designers and programmers interact so that we have a consilience of ideas. I'm sure it is nice to have many more Chetan Bhagat, provided they write good stuff, although his works may not enthuse many of us, we've got to admit he inspires a young chunk of Indian youngsters.
Quite a few IITians do try and crack the civil services exams and add immense value as technocrats. Raghuram Rajan, Manohar Parrikar, Arvind Kejriwal have been contributing immensely to the Indian Government. Before we talk about students taking loans, let us see the importance of pumping money into educational institutions. The Tatas saw the importance of the same, even before Indian government did.
I was very fortunate to spend a year's time at the Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Chennai, which is funded by the Department of Atomic Energy. The best part of the workshops there was the food being served. We had several speakers flying in to deliver lectures. Life was luxurious with institute providing food, accomodation, transport and several other facilities. This let the students and researcher enjoy a good quality of life and hence produce good research output. So I guess the focus should be on making IITs better and cutting their funds or forcing their students to take loans will definitely not help.
The money going into creating these few institutions has interesting repercussions. Passionate students of not so fancied engineering colleges visit IIT's fests. They attend workshops, they listen to NPTEL lectures. They are directly or indirectly influenced by the IITs, they allow a middle class student to dream of being a Fortune 500 Company's CEO. IITJEE is not the end of the road, but is definitely the beginning for many, including me.
In a nut shell, you don't pay an individual, you pay to build an eco-system.
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