The most common argument being heard is that "IITians don't work for the amelioration of their country and will rather migrate abroad for jobs and research prospects." Well, there is no reason why I should do an MS in India where I'm not getting as advanced knowledge of a subject as I can get elsewhere and the government should be focusing more on developing higher education facilities in India rather than increasing cost of education.
And anyway, the fee hike is just going to worsen things. It is very difficult as it is for some people in IITs to pay for their education, but are managing somehow using education loans, because they have toiled for years to achieve that seat. Now people are just going to opt for private colleges.The relatively low fees of IITs were one of the few reasons why people opt for IITs over private institutions like BITS or VIT.
We have now reached a saturation point, where good quality students will actually look at other colleges for their education.
By increasing fees, the government solves none of the problem mentioned, rather it adds to them. So if I've taken an education loan to pay my fees then I would definitely be more inclined to go and work in some consultancy/abroad which pays me more so that I can pay off my debts.
People who will come to IITs will bet on a safer option of taking jobs, instead of innovating. We won't be able to see another Flipkart because that will be very risky, and already indebted students won't take those kind of risks.
Another excuse that is given is that, "governments abroad don't spend as much as is spent on IITians."That is untrue. Governments abroad spend 5.5% of their GDP on education while in India, only 4.9% is spent. And even if that was true, the quality of education in IITs is not even in the league of institutions abroad, so it makes no sense in making the student bear the expenses for that, since you are getting a workforce with a great skill set.
Things got really out of hand when it was announced that SC/STs are going to get full fee waiver. That's just horribly unfair to the other categories. I know some people who are SC/STs who own BMWs and some people of the general category who struggle to pay their fees. The fees of SC/STs is heavily subsidized as it is, and they also get multiple scholarships ranging from a few thousands to a few lakhs just based on their caste. Isn't this just the caste system thrown upside down ? Is it not discrimination against the General category students ?
All just for vote bank politics. This is why India has not been able to move forward for the past 1000 years. For the first 940 years, it was discrimination against the lower caste and for the next 60 years it has been discrimination against the general category.
What MHRD should have done is that, they should have categorized the fee structure according to the annual income of the student's family and subsidized their education and then ask them to pay later for it after they get a job, without charging any kind of interest.
Its kind of ironic how Smriti Irani is as/more unpopular than Kapil Sibal now.
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