Under attack for his comments on faculty quality at the premier IITs and IIMs, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh on Friday was all praise for them saying an IIT consortium was even chosen ahead of a potential U.S. contender for a project.
Mr. Ramesh, who was here to deliver the 13th convocation address at the IIT campus, appeared relieved that there was no black flag demonstration against him. “I had a civilised entry into the IIT, Guwahati. I had half expected a black flag demonstration,” he said at the beginning of his convocation address.
“I am grateful for the faculty not giving vent to their feelings,” Mr. Ramesh said, referring to the student protest at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, when he had gone there to address convocation on May 11.
The Minister said his association with the IIT goes back to the 1963.
“I have used the IIT system very significantly. Last year we gave a contract to a consortium of seven IITs. We got a consortium together and they are now preparing a comprehensive river basin management plan for the Ganga. This contract was about to be given to an American company. And I intervened and I said ‘No, let's use the IITs',” he said.
“Let's use the system, let's use the faculty, let's use the students, let's build up the capability in the IIT. So this is a very big study — Rs.17 crore we are spending to prepare a comprehensive river basin management plan for the Ganga. All seven IITs are involved. And hopefully similar initiatives will be done in other river basins,” the Minister said.
Similarly the services of IIT-Delhi, IIT-Kharagpur and IIT-Guwahati were utilised for many projects.
“So I think we need to maximise the partnerships between the IITs and rest of industry and in all our activities. When I was in the Ministry of Commerce, we launched a major programme between the Tea Board and the IIT-Kharagpur. IIT-Kharagpur is the only IIT to have an agricultural engineering department.”
Asked whether his remarks that the faculties at the IITs and IIMs were not world-class had been blown out of proportion, he said: “I have been associated with the IITs for 48 years. My association with the IIT goes back to 1963. Not many people can claim a 48-year-old association with IITs.”
