From: rroy@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Raja R Roy)
Subject: Re: Should the government subsidize IITs? (Warn: Very Long)
Organization: The Ohio State University
Distribution: na
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1992 19:47:49 GMT


In article <9227411.13951@mulga.cs.mu.OZ.AU> rakesh@ecr.mu.oz.au (Rakesh R Desa
i) writes:
>4   Many will ask me how can people afford fees like 50000 Rs/year.
>That's where I like what Aussie Govt is doing.  In aust higher education
>(after HSC) is not free.  Fees are equivalent to A$ 2000 per year and
>increases with index.  If student can afford it he can pay staight away
>at the beginning of the year.  If he can not, govt gives it to him as a
>loan under HECS (Higher Education Contribution Scheme).  Under HECS
>students fees and interest (nominal) accrue and after he/she graduates and
>starts working that money is taken out with the tax to pay for his fees.
>My suggestion is Indian govt can also do the same and can take back
>money from IITians going abroad in foreign exchange (soot ke saath vasul :-)).

      Let's see. Government spends about 200,000 rs. on average on one
student at IIT. Let's take it back with interest after he graduates.
On the average salaries are between 3000 to 4000 rs/month to start with.
 After expenses
hardly 1000r rs/month can be saved. So one needs  more than 200 months to
 pay that back, more than 16 years to just pay back the loan. I really
 wonder , how many students would like to study in IIT under this condition,
 while they can more easily become IAS or Bank manager and will be in a 
 much better financial condition.
     Also, can anyone share some information about the cost per student in
 RECs and how much of that expenditure student pays.
    Also, was there a hint that only students who go abroad should pay back.
 What about those who become IAS,IFS , who go to IIM and those who become
 managers ?

 Raja 
>
>In article <1992Sep29.205332.6997@unixg.ubc.ca>, banarji@unixg.ubc.ca (Ajai Ba
narji) writes:
>>             Should the government subsidize IITs etc (long)
>
>some deletion for space.
>
>> 1) Delay the decision-do management and then sell soap.
>
>That's true.
>
>> 2) Resign themselves to just running an existing manufacturing setup and
>>    degenerate intellectually.
>
>That's correct.  Somehow us Indians have defeatist attitude that we
>can't do anything new so we resign ourselves to living in the system as
>it is.  I know whenever me and my boss suggested some change it was
>vehemently argued against.
>
>> 3) Go abroad in search of financial and intellectual gain.
>
>I guess its just financial :-).  People come to the fact that
>intellctual gain is bullshit and it is not meant for us mortals.  Like
>only few become Lata Mangeshkar, Sunil Gavaskar or Ravi Shankar,
>similarly only few can get intellectual gain :-).  So if you are not
>going to get intellectual gain ever, atleast you should endeavour for
>financial gain.  Money cannot buy you happiness, but allows you to
>choose your own misery. :-). (borrowed from msod file)
>
>> -fications are the ability to bribe bureaucrats and get government and other
>> clearances; to find a concern in the west which is manufacturing the same
>
>I always believed this bribe and corruption and black market kind of
>evil came into India due to over protection and typical mentality that
>if you open door of the country all Chors and Dakaits from America and
>Europe will take away our wealth.  I felt disgusted when I had to bribe
>Rs 50  to Bombay Municipal Council Clerk for my father's death
>certificate (which he had to just copy from original Doctor's Cert).
>I felt sorry for the chap because he was creation of system.
>
>> per student. That is roughly the market price of one tonnes of polyester
>> filament yarn in India, which sells for around $1800 in the US. Thus, as soo
n
>> as a person who leaves India repatriates 1.5 tonnes of PFY (equivalent to
>> $2700 to him) which the government can sell for Rs 3 lakh, he clears his
>> debt. Anything above this is a gift of hard currency.
>
>I still believe 2 lakh/student/year for a poor country is waste.  Govt
>money should be used to feed poor, hungry and give them basic
>necessities.  If you live in absolutely capitalist world you get
>underclass who go on riots like LA when some day bomb explodes.
>
>>   Secondly, the total expenditure on IIT education is a very small fraction
>> of the money spent on our monitoring, licensing and control agencies which
>
>Under different schemes I know lots of money is getting wasted.  I had a
>distant relative who used to work for Family Planning.  They used to get
>latest Family Planning materials (like injection, contraceptives, pills)
>etc from WHO and it never used to get distributed and just go down the
>drains after expiry dates.
>
>>   I would like to state that the average IITian is much more socially
>> conscious than his counterparts from other colleges. (Really?) We feel
>> very sad that our country which is individually composed of brilliant people
>> is collectively degenerating into such a joke. Mr Amrik Singh should have 
>> advocated a change in the economic structure. Instead he proposes that it
>> be made mandatory for all students graduating from the IITs that they stay b
ack
>> for 5 years. May I ask what purpose this will serve?
>>                                 AJAY CHAUHAN
>
>Agreed.  I remember N no. of cack sessions going upto 2-3 in the morning
>discussing generally what, how, where, when , should be done to bring up
>India.
>
>>   It appears that this letter was written some time before the economic
>> reforms of last year were announced. Some of the more foolish distortions li
ke industrial licencing have gone now. It is also true that with the imminent f
ull
>> convertibility of the rupee the role of NRIs in bringing in foreign exchange
>> will be less important than it is now. 
>
>Some of those changes were inevitable, else we wouldn't have received
>IMF loans.  I am bit pessimistic but unless we open up our doors
>completely there won't be much hope.  As Ajay says our business are good
>at running plant as it is, then we should allow foreign investors to
>make more no of plants which our people will run efficiently.
>
>>   However, we should not lose sight of the fact that the present economic
>> and social structure of the country (dominated as it is by the neta-babu-ban
ia-
>> goonda elite) does not have much place for any reasonably competent or 
>> reasonably honest individual. Will things change? Your guess is as good as
>> mine.
>
>
>Hope it will.
>
>rakesh
>
>ps phew at last over.  If you had reached so far.  You must be as much
>"Dhanda NOT" as I am.  Do some work, mate.
>This is all bullshit.
>
>************************************************************************
>*   Rakesh Desai, Mech & Manf Eng, Uni of Melbourne, Parkville,Vic 3052*
>*   email: rakesh@ecr.mu.oz.au *(BH)+61 3 344 6728  +61 3 328 2258(AH) *
>************************************************************************
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