Lamenting on the lack of proper funding given to newer IIITs and IIMs opening up in the country, BJD Rajya Sabha MP from Kendrapara, Baijayant 'Jay' Panda on Saturday spoke of the need to expose politicians with commercial interests in higher education that are holding the system ransom. The politician was speaking at a session originally conceived as a conversation between Panda and BJP leader Shazia Ilmi at TiECON Ahmedabad, a networking conference which is the the flagship event of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) held at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad campus, however Ilmi did not attend the event. Answering a query posed by an IIIT student on lack of funds for provision of extra curricular infrastructure at his campus IIIT- Vadodara, Panda said, "Many of the institutes, not just the IIITs, but some of the new IIMs also have not got proper funding. So it's one thing to say take credit in saying that we are setting up so many institutes at one go and not setting aside enough resources for that. That's not fair as it damages the brand and it damages people like you who want some facilities that are not there.The bigger problem is that our higher education has been hijacked by vested interests over the past 3 decades. There are lots of politicians with commercial interests in higher education and they are holding the system ransom; that needs to get exposed." Underlining the issue of restriction of higher education offered by premier foreign varsities like Harvard and Yale, the BJD (Biju Janta Dal) MP said, "There is no reason why we should stop Harvard from opening a campus here or Yale from opening a campus in India.we are holding them back because of our policy restrictions.There is enough demand and enough young men and women like you to take admission in top notch institutes if 20 or 40 more were opened. There is artificial restriction of supply of that kind of education infrastructure and we need to speak out against it. There is no short term solution and I have raised this several times in the Parliament that at least whatever (institute) has been now opened, give them full financial (support) whatever is required within the next 1-2 years, rather than next 10 years so that they can start functioning properly." While answering a query from the audience on Indian PM Narendra Modi, Panda heaped praise on Modi for re-positioning India in the eyes of the world by pursuing a successful foreign policy and averred that now he should engage more in domestic policy. In this first edition of TiECON in Ahmedabad, diverse perspectives on an early-stage start-up culture was deliberated on, with strategies to connect that one entrepreneurial idea to capital and make it a successful business venture. The conference threw up developing images of upcoming sectors like healthcare where innovation can flourish, the future and impact of social ventures and how to Make in Gujarat in line with Make in India.
