Student's corner

BEST RESPONSE  

The initiative by IIT-Kharagpur to get into medical education seems to be defying the purpose for which IITs were set up. The only probable reason for government to do so is to encash the brand of IIT. This is not only going to further dilute the brand IIT which is already under pressure with the opening of newer IITs but also mark the ineffectiveness of government to replicate AIIMS and other institutions and relying on IIT to solve all the education problems in India. 

- Rajeev Upadhyay, National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE), Mumbai 

OTHER RESPONSES 

The move by IIT Kharagpur to start a medical course is a step towards a brighter future for India. An institution as prestigious as IIT taking the lead in starting more medical schools is really a point of pride for us. The number of government colleges in India offering MBBS are very less compared to the country's growing need for efficient, intelligent, dedicated and skillful doctors. It is a step towards making our IITs into world-class universities like Harvard that offer all the disciplines and offer the best courses and churn out the best professionals. It is a beacon of hope for all aspiring medical students. 

- Neha Damle, Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad (MICA) 

As IIT-KGP in itself is a top rung institute renowned for engineering, it will maintain its status irrespective of the whatever other courses are started at its campus.The brand IIT has been established in a long time, after years of hard work and research.In India, for engineering no other college enjoys the status as that of the IITs. Though IITs may start different courses side by side but the brand IIT will remain worthwhile. 

- Shivam Chhabra, Integral University, Lucknow 

IITs may boast of being the most sought after technological institutes of the country but they are not as diversified as their foreign counterparts like MIT. Established many decades back,the medical forte remains untouched by these coveted institutes. Medical courses introduced in IIT-KGP will be a welcoming step; provided implemented courses are of high standards. This step will give a boost to the chances of IITs being a world class university. 

- Dipika Sahoo, College of Engineering and Technology, Bhubaneswar 

The IITs have since long been the barometer of technological development in our country. IITs should start courses on health information technology, biomedical engineering and e-health rather than running a hospital or starting MBBS courses. The proposal to introduce medical courses at IITs looks set to destroy the elite nature of the brand. IITs have for long reveled in creating a name for themselves. However, with introduction of medical courses, the name may to get diluted. 

- BR Ramya, Christ University, Bangalore 

Some of the greatest universities of the world offer a mix of courses including the likes of MIT and Harvard, which offer MBA program along with medical and law programmes. As a nation, it is a good step for us to leverage the IIT brand. What we must be careful about is to elevate the new programs to be started to world class levels and not pervert the system. 

- A Bhuvana Bhimaiah, Alagappa University, Bangalore 

Most PG courses in medicine are best left to other institutes. They cannot be managed the same way as an IIT successfully run their other courses. Instead, there are also many subjects that require an inter disciplinary approach, such as bio-medical engineering and radiology. These are subjects which the IITs could start now. For other courses that require inter-disciplinary studies, IITs can collaborate with the top medical colleges in the country. 

- AB Karthik Monnappa, BIMS, Trichy 

IITs are primarily for engineering. Simply expanding infrastructure and introducing new courses will not ensure that the standards of teaching and depth of knowledge available in engineering fields will be passed on to the others, and full-fledged universities can be created. It will be naive to expect that what is successful in MIT/Harvard can be readily implemented in IITs/IIMs. Moreover, JNU/DSE is to social sciences and economics what IITs are to engineering. It will be more sensible to expand their infrastructure rather than focussing on IITs/IIMs. 

- AB Kaushik Aiyappa, IIRM, Hyderabad 

Since a wide span of period , IITs have been linked only with the engineering field and its related courses. It's high time that the oldest institution IIT-KGP now opens its door for the medical aspiring students as well. There's no question of the brand being diluted as each field shall be governed under different authorities. It is definitely feasible and rather a necessity that top institutions give space to students of other fields as well subject to the provision that the quality for each is not degraded. 

- Gaurav Singhal, St. Thomas College of Engineering and Technology (STCET), Kolkata 

IIT-KGP venturing into medical education is a welcome step, considering the poor health facilities in our nation. The medical faculty will offer graduate, post graduate, and research programmers in medical and bio-medical engineering. Obviously Brand IIT requires maintaining certain standards, notably the quality of faculty,research and pedagogical facilities. If they are below par, that would certainly dilute the brand. Even the MIT offers all branches of education, including medicine. 

- Nilaya Mitsah Shanker, Shri Ram Swaroop Memorial College Of Engineering And Management (SRMCEM), Lucknow 

IIT-KGP's foray in medical education will only strengthen its brand value. Foreign institutions like Harvard, Stanford and many others have successfully exemplified this concept by diversifying their courses, a step which has boosted their brand value. Moreover in India there is already a dearth of quality medical colleges. IIT-KGP, with a strong infrastructure and healthy financial support may well in turn be the conducive institution to fill this wide gap. 

- Akshay Chadha, NSIT, New Delhi 

Already training students in technology, research and management, IITs have proved successful in attracting the best talents. As the scenario goes, India has numerous medical colleges with either insufficient resources or charging exorbitant fees from the students. IITs have the funding and the resources to provide the environment convivial for education. The brand will stay the strongest as long as no compromise is made with the quality of education. Also, this can be the next step for the IITs to become at par with world class universities offering multiple programs under the same roof.