One exam, One big commotion!

They say that nobody does anything these days that does not curry favor with the benefactor. After our honorable HRD minister, Mr. Kapil Sibal's inglorious daydream of having the JEE abandoned abruptly in the favor of a single entrance examination to the IITs, NITs, and IIITs, ran into rough weather with the senates of 6 out of 7 IITs rejecting the proposal unequivocally, we are now headed for murkier scrapings amongst the IITs themselves. While the rather radical proposal of doing away with the keystone of the IITs has one staunch supporter in the IITG director, IITKgp's director, Damodar Acharya, came out in support of the proposal today against the wishes of the institute's senate. As expected, the IIT faculty association rebuked the director's isolated move strongly. Nothing like a fractured house when dealing with an issue having a bearing on approximately 1.5 million youngsters of this country!

Now Dr. Acharya is a rather interesting person to head the oldest IIT in the system. Normally, you would not associate the post of directorship of the IITs with somebody who is under investigation for shortcomings in running the governing body for techincal education in India. He has been indicted by the CBI for misgivings in approving technical institutes. This, in a country where private engineering colleges have sprouted like mushrooms in a forest, should be a grievous offence in itself. Dr. Acharya also bears the distinguished reputation of resigning in the face of widespread student protests that engulfed the Kgp campus following the death of an undergrad owing to lacking medical facilities. Obviously, nothing came out of the protests and he was back to the job in no time. 

This short description of Dr. Acharya's escapades in the last 6 years is by no means exact or complete. But this should have been reason enough to set the alarm bells ringing in the echelons of the HRD ministry. However, suspecting the surreptitious dreams of its minister, the ministry perhaps kept mum and kept its man on the job. Now Acharya has kicked-off another storm in this end-of-the-JEE debate, one that will most likely shift the focus from the examination to the internal functioning of the IITs. While the IIT act empowers these institutes to be autonomous in deciding upon the criteria of admission, it is all but certain that the directives of the ministry shall be forced upon them (Anybody remembers the overnight establishment of 5 new IITs, some of whom are still to move to their own campus?). Maybe its time to look to the west. Follow the American higher education pattern, where heads of departments and presidents are contractually employed, armed with a missive to raise the profile of their respective institutions. It often helps to have people who have prior experience of governing an institute. This kind of hiring would not only serve as a catalyst for shaking up the sedentary system, but also make the heads accountable for any shortcomings under their authority. 

It is certain that a big change in the entrance methodology is looming. Whether its the one-nation, one-exam proposal, or the model proposal by IITK to have its own entrance exam, students are facing an uncertain time regarding their future prospects, and more importantly, dreams. They could do without infighting!


PS: These videos keep getting better.

Hardly a time to celebrate

Deepawali is almost here. The pompous festival of wealth and prosperity, which forces even the poorest of the poor to give a token service to goddess Lakshmi in lieu of happiness in the future, brings with itself scenes of jubilation and rejoice. Masses throng to banks and jewelers in hordes and a shopping frenzy grips the entire nation. Like every diwali, this too shall pass. The after-effects of 3 days of gluttonous celebrations will be felt by a few, but the country will go back to normal very soon. Except that this might not be the best time to let laissez faire get in our way of pondering over where exactly India stands right now. 

In terms of polity, fractures abound in the ruling and the opposition camp. Team Anna has severely dented the chances of the UPA, with the most recent bypoll rout suggesting that the public has had enough of its tardy response to corruption. The prime minister has firmly retrenched himself to the background, and all promises of being 'more communicative' to the nation in future appear shallow. The two senior-most ministers are engaged in a power struggle of sorts, and it almost appears like the UPA II is just hoping to making it to the finish line at this time, even though that appears to become harder every passing day. Achievements like the world's cheapest tablet 'Aakash', developed specifically to aid India's growing advancement in IT by rearing a new generation of internet-savvy youth, are outnumbered by blunders like the still tied-up defense procurement issues as well the Air India saga. Not to mention that the hyper-active HRD minister is all set to toy with perhaps the last remaining indigenous brands, the IITs. On the opposition side, an octogenarian is visiting parts of the country exposing the ruling coalition's dubious record on corruption, when two of BJP's own chief ministers were recently fired from their jobs on corruption charges. Talk about charity beginning at home! 

The issues which plague our country's economic development are getting severe every passing day. FDI inflows have sunk to unimaginable lows, inflation is showing no signs of easing, and petrol is actually costlier than liquor. The power sector is reeling under the unintentionally comical tug-of-war between the competing ministries. The incendiary T-issue is raging again, with AP bearing the brunt of the central government's dilly-dallying on the issue. Investor confidence is understandably at a low, and why should it not be? Policy paralysis is the graveyard of business expansion. None of these issues are unmanageable, unless the government chooses to overlook the glaring omissions in it's list of priorities. As the aspirational nature of India's youth firmly establishes itself to the forefront, the political class will have to answer sooner or later. One can only imagine that true bliss is around the corner. 

PS: It is not as if we have nothing to look forward to. The inaugural Indian grand prix is only a fortnight away. Here's the interactive track map in the words of Mark Webber himself.