Chennai IIT & APSC issue :
The Noises dominating over the Signals
Those interested in knowing the views of the section of the
Chennai IIT students, supporting the action by the management, against APSC
(Ambedkar Periyar Study Circle) , can read it in the following link.
Assuming all the above content are true, & also
the media reports true, the following questions arise, raising a more serious issue
w.r.t the style of functioning of the
IIT management.
There can be no IIT, minus the students.
A responsible management must have a PROPER mechanism to
monitor the activities of the students, especially in a residential, closed,
& well guarded campus.
The mechanism must sensitize the violations of the guidelines,
if any, by any student, section of students, or a student body like APSC. Also
a ‘CLEAN’ management with students from all over India, MUST ensure NO caste, religion, & state, based discrimination,
and the above mechanism NEED to be extra-sensitive to such discrimination; in
view of the past allegations during the rule of the previous govt.
Also the students, displaying their faith in the management,
must draw the attention of the management about the violations of the
guidelines, if any, by any student, section of students, or a student body like
APSC.
Instead if any student or a section of students send a
complaint, that too anonymous, to MHRD, will it not be SIGNAL that the students
of the IIT had lost faith in their management to address to their grievances?
Sad to know, that the students in the above link disliked revealing
their identity, probably fearing unwelcome repercussions. It simply means that
noises and nuisances dominate the public domain even in higher education, that
too w.r.t the reputed institutions like IIT, exposing the irresponsible elders
backing the students, on both sides of the issue, fueling the chocking in the public
debates.
If IIT had the above mentioned proper mechanism, the first
step to check the violation is to draw the attention of the students of APSC,
indulging in the violations, and explore rectification through counseling.
If the above step failed, then it needs to be followed up,
by a show cause notice drawing the students’ attention to the proposed
disciplinary action against them.
On receiving their reply, a proper enquiry shall be
conducted to decide the punishment with focus to offer scope for their
refinement, instead of ruining their studies & career, as a vengeance.
According to the content of the above link from the students
supporting the IIT management action against APSC, the Chennai IIT management
did not follow the above responsible course of action.
The following clarification from the students associated
with APSC, also confirmed it.
“We resent
the fact that the Dean has de-recognized our study circle unilaterally without
giving us a fair hearing and an opportunity to represent ourselves.”
http://www.thenewsminute.com/article/full-letter-iit-madras-apsc-students-respond-derecognition
Strange is the following clarification from the IIT management.
"They are free to conduct their activities on their
own. They merely cannot use the name of IITM in their pamphlets and
communication (as they have been doing), and they do not get institutional
funding for their activities."
Does it not mean that the IIT management is more concerned
with the funds & the name, than the nature of the activities of the
students?
I have the following more serious question to both the
students supporting & opposing APSC.
Are they aware of the following news, endangering the very survival of IIT, as top
ranking institutions in India?
“The government initiated budget cuts for the five new IITs
and IIMs—from `Rs. 500 crore to `Rs.65 crore. For the existing 16 IITs, the
budget has been cut by Rs.163 crore.”
The above information, if true, will prove to be a ‘TRAGIC REWARD’ to the student community, who, with high hopes, had contributed to the election of Modi, as PM. Also if it is the ‘tip of the iceberg of the changes’ introduced by the Modi govt, it may prove to be the ‘Modi’s waterloo’, nullifying all other achievements of the non-corrupt govt. Branding the ‘changes’ as simply ‘saffronization’ , unaware of the pro & anti-modi forces within the Hindutva, will prove to be a self defeating strategy of the pro-India, but mentally colonized ‘secular’(?) parties.
Obviously the above cuts, probably for the FIRST TIME in independent India, will not affect the salary part of the IIT staff. Only the students , the research scholars and the projects meant for S.C/S.T/Physically challenged, etc will suffer in terms of winding up the projects, decreased facilities & funds for the purchase of hardware, software, books,etc. No surprise, if promising research scholars & faculties migrate to foreign countries, not WASTING their talents in India. Probably they may opt for China, in view of the following development.
Obviously the above cuts, probably for the FIRST TIME in independent India, will not affect the salary part of the IIT staff. Only the students , the research scholars and the projects meant for S.C/S.T/Physically challenged, etc will suffer in terms of winding up the projects, decreased facilities & funds for the purchase of hardware, software, books,etc. No surprise, if promising research scholars & faculties migrate to foreign countries, not WASTING their talents in India. Probably they may opt for China, in view of the following development.
“Chinese spending has grown by 20% per year since 1999, now
reaching over $100bn, and as many as 1.5 million science and engineering
students graduated from Chinese universities in 2006. China published 184,080
papers as of 2008. China has also become a top destination for international
students.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_China)
If the above dangerous trend is unchecked, Chennai IIT may
soon be downgraded to the level of TN govt colleges. Also Modi govt will be blamed the
decreasing the investment for the future development of India, apart
from downgrading the present R & D activities.
On the other hand, if the cut was initiated to curtail
wasteful expenditure, will it not warrant to initiate immediate enquiry to
assess the total amount wasted in all the IITs all these years, identify &
punish the culprits?
Had Chennai IIT management followed the proper mechanism
mentioned above, the APSC issue would not have reached such unfortunate decibel level in
the media with the noises from both the opposite sides dominating over the signals
; distracting the students from the more serious issue of the very survival of
the IIT. Any unilateral decision of the management, minus the proper mechanism, will become a source for noises, causing pollution in the higher education domain, as demonstrated in the current controversy; high time to review the performance of the ‘babus’ of MHRD, in the light of the following observation by the reputed journalist Prabhu Chawla.
“For the past 13 months, they have been forced to reach office before 9 am, but their productivity hasn’t increased commensurately. By nature, babus are pygmies. They are, however, capable of halting an elephant in its tracks with red tape and regulation tricks. Modi replaced over 60 secretary-level officials after the retirement of the incumbent officers, but continued with Seth since the officer was privy to the ways and means of the UPA government. It was the PM’s first encounter with the army of official mercenaries whose only object is to thrive even if the country is on the verge of an administrative chaos.”
http://www.newindianexpress.com/prabhu_chawla/columns/New-Cab-Sec-Modis-Mission-of-Making-Bureaucracy-an-Obedient-Partner-Gets-Headstart/2015/05/31/article2841145.ece .
“For the past 13 months, they have been forced to reach office before 9 am, but their productivity hasn’t increased commensurately. By nature, babus are pygmies. They are, however, capable of halting an elephant in its tracks with red tape and regulation tricks. Modi replaced over 60 secretary-level officials after the retirement of the incumbent officers, but continued with Seth since the officer was privy to the ways and means of the UPA government. It was the PM’s first encounter with the army of official mercenaries whose only object is to thrive even if the country is on the verge of an administrative chaos.”
http://www.newindianexpress.com/prabhu_chawla/columns/New-Cab-Sec-Modis-Mission-of-Making-Bureaucracy-an-Obedient-Partner-Gets-Headstart/2015/05/31/article2841145.ece .
Note: “IIT-Madras Revokes De-recognition of APSC Student Group; In hindsight, admitted DoST Sivakumar Srinivasan in a mail to APSC members in the evening, other options could have been considered. “I have taken into consideration your note stating that guidelines were circulated to students via mail only on 18th April, 2015, while your event was on 14th April, 2015. Noting that the guidelines were not disseminated when the meeting took place, in hindsight it appears that other options could have been considered,” he said in the e-mail. “We see this as a result of the protests by students and progressive and democratic forces across the country. This is a small step in a fight to ensure that anything under the sun can be discussed and debated in the public sphere,” said Akhil B, a member of APSC.” http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/IIT-Madras-Revokes-De-recognition-of-APSC-Student-Group/2015/06/08/article2854717.ece
