recommendations to take IIT s forward

Kakodkar Committee recommendations to take IITs forward Kakodkar Committee set up by MHRD Anil Kakodkar, Mohandas Pai, Ashok Jhunjhunwala, Mohandas, Hari Bhartia, Ashok ThakurInvited: M. Anandakrishnan, Timothy Gonsalves, Gautam BaruaCo-opted: K. Sudhakar and Ramesh Babu

Kakodkar Committee Outline • Recommendations • Enhanced Research focus • Autonomy • Faculty, Staff, Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Scaling Engineering Education • Summary

Kakodkar Committee Recommendations Enhanced Research Focus

Kakodkar Committee Going forward, IITs • Have to become world-class Research Institutions • While retaining its position as best teaching institutions • IITs to have significantly Enhanced Research funding • Have substantially enhanced Industrial collaboration • Focus on technology development in Indian context • Each IIT should grow to have 1200 faculty (from around 500 today) and closer to 12000 students • With most growth coming fromenhanced PhD students • Number of IIT PhDs graduates per year to be scaled up to 10000 • while continuously enhancing quality • Make a mark in Indian Engineering Education • Help 70 Centrally funded institutions (including IITs) graduate 100,000 high quality engineering graduates every year • ensure availability of quality human resource for India’s needs • Feeder to critical areas as well as into PhD programs

Kakodkar Committee Some target numbers by 2020 • 20 IITs (typically one in each state) • Faculty Strength: 16000 • established IITs may have 1200 faculty each • Ratios:Faculty:student = 1:10; PG:UG = 1:1 or higher • IITs to strive to have one PhD graduate per year for each full time faculty • Student Strength: 160000 • 40000 PhDs + 40000 Masters and 80000 UG Students • Admissions per year • 10000 PhDs (average 4 years to graduate) • 20000 Masters (2 years to graduate) • 20000 Undergraduates (4 years to graduate) • Enhancing Industry’s Knowledge capabilities • About 10000 Executive M.Techs educated per year using live video-classes

Kakodkar Committee Where will PhD Students Come from? • Approximately a fourth each from • Existing Stream: M.Tech / Masters graduates joining for PhD • UG students in any Indian engineering institution selected at the end of their third year for direct PhD admissions • to complete their B.Tech and carry out PhD at IIT • Teachers from various engineering colleges comes to IIT for three years for a PhD (Faculty Improvement program) • Industry personnel pursuing PhDs (part-time) • IITs require to aggressively pursue candidates to join PhD

Kakodkar Committee Comprehensive Research Infrastructure • Significantly Enhanced Research funding for • Large collaborative focused program • Multiple faculty from multiple disciplines and multiple institutions • IITs to aim to become the World’s Best in a few areas: massively funded • areas selected on the basis of demonstrated high level capability • Industry to set up their R&D Labs at Research Parks adjacent to IITs to enable industry-academia collaborations and build Research and Innovation eco-system • Government Ministries to set up their R&D Labs at IITs • Each Ministry/ PSU reserves 2% of its budget for R&D • Towards industry acquiring technology leadership in the area

Kakodkar Committee Recommendations Autonomy

Kakodkar Committee IITs today have • Total Academic autonomy • Significant Administrative autonomy • Limited Financial autonomy as over 80% of its budget comes from MHRD (limited by government financial rules) • IITs can not become World-Class institutions without total autonomy • In future, IITs to be totally self-reliant in terms of its operational (non-plan) budget • funding from government only to students for scholarship • and legacy pension • MHRD will continue to fund IITs for its Capital Expenses, Research and Core Infrastructure (Plan budget) • augmented infrastructure necessary to support projected scale-up • refurbishing of ageing infrastructure and to clear the current backlog • Enhanced research support for research at IIT by MHRD and other funding agencies

Kakodkar Committee Funding its Operational Budget • IITs to recover its operational expenses through tuition fees • Estimated at Rs 2 lakhs per year (up from Rs 0.5 lakhs today) • MHRD to fully provide fees for • All research students (Masters and PhD): fees plus fellowship • Weaker section UG students • other UG students with parental income below a threshold (say < Rs 4.5 l / annum) • Hassle-free government / bank loan to be a part of admissions process • create incentives for B.Tech students to pursue research and teaching career • Industrial and Consultancy programs and Royalties • Enhanced R&D projects • all government ministries must provide a minimum of 20% overheads without ceiling • Most US Universities have this over 50% • Continuing Education Programs • ExcecutiveM.Tech. • Alumni and Industrial Grants

Kakodkar Committee Current Financial Estimates • Fees Rs2 lakhs per year per student • Retirement Benefits (old pension scheme) costs around Rs250 Crore for all IITs • Plus scholarships • Expansion Budget (one-time) • Rs20 lakhs per student • Rs5 lakhs per existing student in established IITs for regeneration • Oversight-related expansion costs: Rs15 lakhs instead of Rs10 lakhs per student • Capital Grants • Rs1.5 lakhs/student per year plan grant • current amount Rs 70C for 6000 students • Rs10Crores / year per new IIT as seed endowment over next five years • Rs200Crores for each IIT for setting Research Park in line with IITMRP

Kakodkar Committee Towards excellence through autonomy • Institute to be fully governed by its Board of Governors • Including Financial planning and Expenditure rules, faculty remuneration, fees, number of faculty and staff • But in accordance with Government’s overall policy directives in terms of affirmative action, technology directions • Board to constituteof • One representative each from MHRD and state Government • Others from panels (panels approved by council) prepared by S&T academies and Industry associations; alumni and faculty to be represented; one eminent citizen • Board to select chairperson and approved by the council • Board Nomination committee to select director and next set of board members • Comprehensive Institution review duly monitored by the IIT Council every 5 years and made public: focus on quality and size • Annual MOU between Government and each IIT with Council oversight and guidance • Visitor to retain emergency powers

Kakodkar Committee Recommendations Others

Kakodkar Committee Faculty • Attracting Best faculty to IITs is key • Strong academic culture and transparency • Drive by Director and faculty to attract faculty • Start-up funds to attract faculty • Faculty remuneration decided by BOG • Differentiated faculty remuneration based on performance based assessment • Five-axis Faculty assessment: Teaching, Research, Technology Development and Industrial Consultancy, Policy Research, Service • Examine tenure-system for faculty • Enable and Encourage some mid-career faculty from established IITs to shift to newer IITs • Special Scheme for overseas faculty to join IIT

Kakodkar Committee Staff • All decisions including numbers, remuneration to be decided by BOG • Suggest outsourcing of all support activities • Most scientific staff on project mode • Flexibility of salaries for these temporary staff • Technical Staff: insource staff where possible • Use PhD students • Administrative Staff: computerize as much as possible • Hire some mid-career staff, watch for a few years before regularisation

Kakodkar Committee Innovation and Entrepreneurship • Nurture Industry–Academia relationship to make India a world leader in knowledge economy • Significant give and take required on both sides • will change teaching and research at IITs and will train IIT graduates to take India to leadership position • Encourage R&D personnel to become adjunct faculty • Enable large number of industry persons to do PhD • IITs need to have special focus on Innovation and entrepreneurship • Important to bring students, faculty and industry R&D personnel together • Research Park creates the right eco-system • IITs need to learn that • Success in entrepreneurship comes only after multiple failures • Substantial benefits only if pursued over long periods • Have to make special efforts to learn to evaluate faculty focusing on product development

Kakodkar Committee Towards becoming Technology SuperpowerGraduating 100,000 high Quality Students / year • Identify 50 centrally funded Science and engineering institutions (like NITs, IIITs, IISER, NISER)to be nurtured • 5 bright young IIT faculty members and 3 industry persons for each such institute • Invite them to be members of BOG and senate of the institute • Task them to build relationship to enhance quality and to • Enable Research collaboration between the institute and their IITs • These youngsters would be thereby trained to be future leaders • Get these start graduating 80K high quality UGs over ten years • Along with IITs, central government funded institutions to have 100K high quality UG seats • Hopefully state government /private institutions creates 200K quality seats • Will create the Science and Engineering pool for India’s future

Kakodkar Committee Way Forward • Recommendations need to be accepted as a whole to realise the intended objectives • needs some changes in IIT Act • Task an Empowered Implementation Committee to make this transition happen over three years

Kakodkar Committee Summing Up

Kakodkar Committee Major recommendations and views 1. Enhancing PhD students: 40K, MS: 40K, faculty to 16K • General unanimity amongst IIT directors, faculty, alumni, industry • Some skepticism about getting enough students 1a. Enhancing B.Tech students to 80K • Some opposition amongst IIT faculty; support from alumni, industry • Not a significant increase for 20 IITs • Constraints of campus space at some places 2. Autonomy of Board, selection of Director / Chairman • All faculty / directors/ alumni / industry want autonomy • But some directors somewhat apprehensive of board functioning, taking responsibility -- right now comfort of being MHRD baby • Will require very careful selection of transition board and handholding by Implementation committee

Kakodkar Committee 3. Fee increase to Rs 2 lakhs per year • Significant apprehension amongst some faculty / directors • Supported by alumni / industry • Implementation committee has to manage transition • Weaker section students, rural and poor students (parental income of less than 4.5 lakhs) provided complete scholarships • Hassle free government / bank loans for others • Would require working and some persuasion • As capital cost is Rs 6 -8 l/yr, fees are still less than 25% of total cost • Government loans for fees being increased proposed 4. Independent of MHRD for operational budget • Some apprehension amongst some faculty and directors • Industry / alumni agree that it is the route to autonomy • Requires Implementation committee to spend time at each IIT

Kakodkar Committee 5. Faculty remuneration independent of government scales • Welcome by faculty, directors, alumni, industry 6. Differentiated performance based faculty remuneration • Faculty / directors opinion divided • Enabling clause -- to be decided by each board • Innovative faculty appraisal process suggested • implementation committee may have to spend time at each IITs 7. Enhancement of Capital Expenses, R&D focus, Research Park, Entrepreneurship, • All support it 8. Will we be able to really help other Centrally funded institutions? • It is a un-traversed path • Will require change in ACT governing centrally funded institutions • And their cooperation • MHRD and Implementation Committee has to work on it

Kakodkar Committee Finally 9. General Apprehensions • Will IITs really get autonomy after all this? • Or will the command and control mindset in finance prevail? 10. Will all this really make IITs world’s top institutions? • Will our research become world class? • We will need to continuously work on quality • Require leadership emerging at each IITs • Have to create a nationalistic fervor -- raw material is there • Implementation committee need to work on it

Kakodkar Committee Additional slides

Kakodkar Committee Financial Implications of Recommendations I • Capital Expenditure: 100% to be met by MHRD • OSC expansion cost: Rs 10 lakhs  Rs 15 lakhs per student • Future Student Expansion: Rs 20 lakhs / student • One time rejuvenation: Rs 5 lakh per existing student for estab. IITs • Rs 200 Crore per established IIT for Research Park • Yearly Capital grants: Rs 1.5 l / student (current Rs 70 Cr for 6000 students)

Kakodkar Committee Financial Implications of Recommendations II • Operational Expenditure • Today MHRD provides • Old pension related expenses (Rs 250 to 300 Crores per year) • Plus 80% of all other expenses (estimated as Rs 2 lakhs per student per year) • Rs 900 Crores per year • This will become ZERO • Scholarships: currently only fellowship + Rs 50K fees per student • For all Masters and PhD student: now will include Rs 2 lakh fees • For weaker section students: now will include Rs 2 lakh fee per student • For 25% of other B.Tech students (rural and lower parental income): now will include Rs 2 lakh fees • For current student strength this will be less than Rs 700 Crores • No net increase in Government expenditure

recommendations to take IIT s forward