Good news from IIT-Guwahati

This newspaper on Sunday carried a front-page news-item which said that students of IIT Guwahati have been offered packages up to Rs 70 lakh per annum despite uncertain and gloomy job scenario caused by the on-going Covid pandemic situation. This is indeed a very encouraging and positive piece of news emanating from the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, which in itself was established under provisions of the Assam Accord of 1985, signed between the All Assam Students' Union (AASU) and the Government of India. What is more encouraging is the fact that the highest offer for IIT Guwahati graduates in 2019 – when the situation was absolutely normal – was only Rs 52 lakh per annum. And then, as has been pointed out in the news-item, there were four international offers too. One must put on record the fact the establishment of an IIT in Guwahati in 1994 – the sixth IIT in the country – itself has brought about a sea change in the educational scenario in Assam and the Northeast by way of inspiring hundreds of students of the region to aim at getting admission in such elite institutions. IIT Guwahati may not have accommodated too many students from Assam and the region in the undergraduate courses, but its establishment has definitely created an atmosphere which has led to entry of more students from the region in IITs across the country. Additionally, it has also contributed towards creating a pool of post-graduates from among the local students which in turn have enhanced the quality of faculty in different institutions of the region. While one discusses the high salary package that IIT Guwahati students have been able to attract, one must probably also discuss a few other related aspects. One, what is the campus placement status of the other engineering colleges of the region, including the Assam Engineering College (established in 1955), Jorhat Engineering College (established in 1960), NIT Silchar (established in 1967), Manipur Institute of Technology (established in 1998), NIT Imphal (established in 2010), NERIST (established in 1984), NIT Agartala (upgraded from erstwhile Tripura Engineering College of 1965 in 2006), to name a few? Is there really a quality placement mechanism in place in these institutions? What is the maximum offer students of these institutions have been able to clinch? What is the overall placement status of each of these institutions? What is the employability of engineering graduates produced by these institutions? Secondly, what about the placement scenario of the private engineering colleges of the region which charge fees which are many times higher than what government engineering colleges charge? Is it true that the majority of students passing out from the private engineering colleges of the region are of poor quality, have very little employability and have been either sitting idle or are being under-employed? And, since one began with the positive story from IIT Guwahati, what about the overall contribution towards and impact of this prestigious institution on the general socio-economic, academic and scientific scenario of Assam and the Northeastern region? One should probably also ask the authorities of IIT Guwahati to also spell out whether it has any outreach programme covering various high and higher secondary schools of Assam and the Northeast which is intended at inspiring and helping the students prepare for taking the entrance test leading to admission in various courses offered by IITs across the country? This question is being asked because, unlike other IITs of the country, IIT Guwahati was the outcome of the historic Assam Accord, as has been already mentioned. Morever, IIT Guwahati being a very significant product of the Assam Accord, does IIT Guwahati have any programme through which it tells its students converging from all over India about what the Assam Accord is all about? In other words, do the so-called brilliant students who come from all over India and spend four years in IIT Guwahati, have the facility to know the peculiar problems of Assam and the Northeast, so that they can contribute towards finding scientific solutions to those?