IITs Yesterday and Tomorrow

That the IITs have a unique place in the Indian higher education system does not have to be enlarged upon. What needs to be done, however, is to encourage and enable them to break their isolation from the rest of the university system and become active partners in the whole educational endeavour. This does not mean that tiny have to be like the other universities, but surely there has to be greater interaction between the technical sector and the mainstream sector. Being the strongest unit in the technical sector, the IITs have a special obligation in this respect and it is time they started thinking about it.