DailyPost 2563
IIT / IIM 2.0 TRANSFORMING INDIA
The vision of having world class tech and management institutes was brought to reality in the form of IITs and IIMs and its gaining in strength year on year. These institutions dot the Indian geography with pride and have become a brand at the global level long time back. This sort professional higher education transformation would not have many parallels globally, more so in the developing world. The institutions individually and also cumulatively as a brand could create a name and clout which has been one of its kind. The students and faculty could reap benefits which best of private institutions are able to provide globally.
Was fulfilling the students and teachers dream the final vision for the nature of investment made and governmental focus provided at the highest levels and consistently for decades and continues even to this day. These institutions whether stated or otherwise were to become the harbingers of technology all across the country, a catalyst for change and change agents themselves. Then IIMs were to create a new system of management culture, management systems and overall streamlining of the feudal archaic systems to modern ones. Now the first goal of catering to the interests of the students, teachers and might be of the institutions too has been achieved, its time they move to the second goal or the country extracts it out of them.
When you talk of technology in government and also of the management practices what comes to you mind? Whatever might be your visualization, the experience inside and outside of the government is of a creaking system, forcing it to run with great difficulty. The human resources are also suspect. We are in the midst of technology and management process transformation globally and India cannot afford to miss out on this wave. Only when the governance becomes cutting edge it would have the capability to facilitate the mammoth changes and the overwhelming tasks that it faces. The model of multinational consultants, system integrators, vendors, outsourcing and OEMs supposed work in tandem has not delivered.
Take one simple example of tech capacity building. Can all IITs combined not find ways and means to meet this challenge, with unstinted support of the Government of India. For all projects of the government, all consultancy should come from the IIMs and IITs and they should be held accountable for it. They have the best brains, brains validated by the government, then why should the government settle for substandard consultants. Professors of IITs and IIMs cannot pat their back being members of government committees and commissions and for attending Technical Advisory Panel meetings with no accountability whatsoever. Tech procurement which happens to be quite messed up, IITs with their capability can set the house in order. For all the tech projects, they have to be the creators, supervisors, monitors, quality inspectors, capacity builders and final deliverers. Vendors will forced to dance to their tunes in the interest of the nation. The management side of these projects would be handled by the IIMs. A fixed system can emerge in a few years’ time and deliberately created mess will vanish. A super techno-management team of this kind can do wonders, it is proven that it cannot happen in any other manner. People have paid through their nose to make these institutions, its time they pay back to the nation.
IS CREATING A NEW TECH GOVERNANCE MECHANISM FOR TRANSFORMING THE NATION ASKING TOO MUCH FROM THE IITs AND THE IIMs?
Sanjay Sahay
Have a nice evening.