There is a reason why every problem has been connected with increase in population. Things in India just aren’t designed for a large number of people. Think vaguely, do you remember any place or situation where things went smoothly once the number of people went even a little above normal?
I am guessing no; at least I don’t remember any. Infrastructure wise we have never ruled anyways. The conditions of the IIMs after the Supreme Court ruling to increase the batch intake are quite predictable too. As anywhere in India, there is a lot of nudging and pushing going around.
Indian Institute of Management-Kozhikode (IIM-K) increased its post graduate program (PGP) batch size from 265 to 325 this year. Of course, the infrastructure was (1) left to be developed only after the start of the session. According to a student at IIM-K, due to the increase in class size, “almost all the courses are taken by two professors now which has(2) overburdened the faculty“. He adds that “the new mess (area where the students have their meals) is (3)still not operational thus there is crowding there too”. If this is the case with the IIMs, one can only imagine how will the increase in the number of seats affect other institutions.
Recently, a minister in Orissa commented about how not having a school building shouldn’t deter students from attending school. He argued how students in olden times used to study under trees and walked for miles to their schools and still became leaders in their chosen paths. Really? Shouldn’t we talk about the politicians in olden times as well?
I think it is high time the leaders and the people of India decide which age they want to live in. Lamenting about how great the olden times were while boasting about an advanced and developing India which only exists on paper will make any real growth impossible. Before announcing decisions like the increase in seats in premiere institutes like the IITs and the IIMs, the infrastructure should be the first priority. And ministers should realize that lack of a school building is a reason for students to not come to school; so instead of advocating practices obsolete in present times, they should work towards providing new workable ones.
Corrections:
1) After the email received by the media cell-IIM K, I have realized that the construction had started before the start of the session and various projects are at high degree of completion
2) I spoke to Prof. Anand Kuttan, he replied that the classes have been divided into five sections of 60 students each and the professors are not overburdened, else “we would not have opted for it”. According to him, “five classes of 60 students each is better than one class of more than 100 students”. I agree.
3) Again, Prof Kuttan has told me that a new contractor is yet to be found for the new dining hall. Hence there is a bit of overcrowding in the old ones. The media cell says: “The new mess has been operational from last year. It is shut down in cases of excess capacity, for example, when only 1 batch is present on campus owing to the staggering of the PGP calender for Year 1 and Year 2. It has been fully functional from a few days after the new batch started their course.”