IIT Madras has always been democratic

I've been teaching at the IIT Madras for nine years, and healthy discussions on a variety of highly pertinent issues have always been encouraged. I am not sure what exactly transcribed in the issue over the Ambedkar Periyar Student Circle, though we did get intimation from the administration that fragments of it have been reported by the press.

I teach civil engineering and infrastructure and interestingly, a vital part of our work lies in discussing what could be done better as far as the government's infrastructural planning is concerned. We have at-length discussions on what the government, private and social sectors should do more and approach differently. And there are always a good number of people who feel strongly about both sides.

In fact, our students have done extensive study and written papers on government and private projects that could be planned and executed differently; on initiatives that have not gone too well and need to be bettered.

We have a lecture series, where we periodically call people from different walks of life, to encourage debate and discussion. The point of these is to encourage different perspectives among our students. As part of this, we've had economist Montek Singh Ahluwalia come here and give a lecture on some successful projects and social activist Medha Patkar come and talk about government initiatives that are risky to the environment and society. Our knowledge base requires us to understand the ideas that are good and the ones that aren't, and our responsibility lies in offering strong solutions.

I have worked closely with the Tamil Nadu government in establishing the Infrastructure Development Act, which is an overarching framework on how infrastructural projects should be developed, procured and transparency be ensured in the procurement process. There have been points where we've agreed and ones where we've strongly differed on. But it's all a part of process.

IIT Madras has always strived to build a platform for healthy and productive differences of opinion, backed by substantial facts and the need to offer solutions. The campus has always been democratic that way.