Where's the pride in calling oneself backward?

As you read this post, bear in mind that: 1) I hail from a family that has seen its share of struggles; sleeping on railway platforms, traveling in unreserved compartments, four people staying in one room; and 2) I've been known to be anything but a casteist/classist at work or elsewhere.

This was in 2011. I was chairing the Senate Under Graduate Committee (SUGC) at IIT Kanpur, a body that essentially oversaw the academic administration of all UG students. One unfortunate, yet essential, task was to make decisions on which students to put on warning or probation. And for some students who kept performing below par despite all nudges, assistance, warnings and probation, it would come down to making a decision on whether it was best to ask them to leave IITK and join some other college, or in case of severely extenuating circumstances like health concerns or family emergencies, give them more time to recover to acceptable academic standards.

In one such meeting we were explaining to a student and his father that there was no way we could keep the student on. He had some 15-20 backlogs with no extenuating circumstances, had been through the warning-probation period (which lasts at least one full year and is usually extended), and just had to go.

Eventually when all discussions and arguments led nowhere, the father stood up and spoke belligerently: "Ham backward hain, backward! Aap hamein nahi nikaal sakte!"

Now this is certainly not true. Students under affirmative action get extra leeway at the time of admission, but once they are in the college, they are expected to clear courses like everyone else. And if someone's academic performance falls too low, he or she has to go regardless of forward/backward/caste/class. And eventually, the student and his father had to, very correctly, accept this.

But what left me stunned was the sheer arrogance with which the father said "ham backward hain!".

Truth be told, the sentiment should exactly be the opposite! Extreme poverty aside (which is the real backwardness in society), if anyone calls you backward for reasons of birth or community, every fiber in your being should rebel with a "kaun kehta hai ham backward hain aur aap forward? ham bhi utne hee forward hain jitne aap! koi kami nahi hai ham mein!"

This shift needs to come in our society. Thinking of oneself, calling oneself, or allowing anyone else to call one backward is psychologically denting! Your whole approach to life becomes negative. You have decided stay on the backfoot unnecessarily.

No! Step forward! Make your presence felt! Work hard, do the best you can, and then let the chips fall where they may!

[Extreme poverty of course is a different matter! We must go the extra mile to help students coming from severely poor families regardless of their caste, class, religion or gender.

Note: My views on combatting backwardness effectively are here: https://strike-a-pause.blogspot.com/2022/10/a-four-point-algorithm-to-combat.html ]

IIITs and IISERs: Why?

Here's something I don't get:

We have 25 IIITs (institutes of information technology). Most of them offer programs in only two disciplines: Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. Just two.

A few of them are IIITDMs (design and manufacturing added) and these additionally offer programs in mechanical engineering. That's three disciplines.

And all these IIITs and IIITDMs have needed substantial real estate and infrastructure investments! 

Now, we already had so many IITs and NITs that are full blown institutes with pretty much all science and technology departments. Why were seats simply not increased as needed in CS, EE and ME in these institutes, more faculty hired and classrooms and labs expanded? We would have achieved the same results with much much much lesser investment. And the crores and crores of rupees saved could have been utilised to address other needs.

Likewise for IISERs: Science departments in IITs and NITs could have been expanded - and the institutes renamed to IISTs and NISTs to lay an equal emphasis on Science and Technology - instead of bringing up entire institutes that only offer science programs. 

We would have saved thousands of crores of rupees.

Plus students would have had a wider range of electives to choose from and a broader exposure to research labs cutting across disciplines.

Where's the thought process behind decision making?

Raising IIT Standards Collectively

I'll need to hold your attention for a bit to make a point that I think is worth considering. Please stick with me:

These are the NIRF 2024 ranks of the 23 IITs (Link: https://www.nirfindia.org/Rankings/2024/EngineeringRanking.html)

1-5: Madras, Delhi, Bombay, Kanpur, Kharagpur, 

6-8: Roorkee, Guwahati, Hyderabad.

10, 15: Varanasi, Dhanbad.

16, 18, 22, 28, 31, 34, 54: Indore, Gandhinagar, Ropar, Jodhpur, Mandi, Patna, Bhubaneswar, 

61, 62, 64, 73: Tirupati, Jammu, Palakkad, Bhilai.

Not yet in first hundred: Goa and Dharwad.

If you look carefully, Hyderabad aside, there is still a stratification of 1st Generation IITs - 2nd Generation IITs - 3rd Generation IITs.

We need to break this so that (a) students as well as faculty applicants stop worrying about this hierarchy and make decisions on where to go depending on what interests them and feedback on systemic efficiencies and teaching & research culture and (b) the overall standard of all IITs goes up rapidly.

I think this can happen relatively quickly if we do the following two things:

1. Take the best practices from the 5 first generation IITs (these have been refined over decades and are time tested) and implement them in all others.

2. Incentivise a migration of faculty members from the 5 first generation IITs to the newer IITs (promotions, increments, research money, lab space, positions of responsibility). The only hitch is enabling a complete relocation of labs - and this is easily doable if the directors and funding agencies enable it. If this is done, I believe it will significantly impact not just the immediate academic standards, research collaborations, etc. of the newer IITs but also the quality of faculty applications these IITs receive.

I think my thoughts above have merit and invite you to think about them. Your opinions are always welcome!

Similarly:

I see a lot of senior academics hankering after Director-ships of "1st Generation IITs", while either refusing opportunities to lead the newer IITs or treating them as 2nd and 3rd options.

Doesn't make sense to me :) ...

You are already established academics and have already earned and enjoyed the social respectability that comes with being associated with high ranking institutes. Leading a newer institute is your opportunity to build something up, to create, why hold back? The older IITs already have a momentum, the newer ones need a generating of the same, the challenge is greater! Take it up :)!

I think folks invest too much, for too long, in being associated with brand names. Isn't there a stronger "kick" about taking up bigger challenges? I certainly would feel more fulfilled looking myself in the eyes that way:)!