IIT Director’s Hiring To Be Made More Transparent

New Delhi: The scheduled meeting of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Council to be held on Friday i.e. on January 21, 2011, will make the process of hiring of IIT Director more transparent. Also, the council would consider a proposal from the Mauritius government to set up an International Institute of Technology.

As per sources, for the first time, the council will give authorization to establish an Open Access Institutional Repository that will feature research papers by IIT students and faculty on a common platform. According to IIT sources, directors are now appointed only through a search process in which many people are invited to apply for the job. Also, senior academicians recommend names to search committee. Moreover, a source also added that the current system is not transparent. The new system will necessitate search-cum-selection. Jobs for IIT directors will be advertised.

Furthermore, the source also mentioned that it will expand the sphere of selection. Even senior academicians from abroad can apply. There are many people of Indian origin who want to come back, but are unaware of job prospects. The new system would be implemented in case of IIT, Delhi, since its director would be completing his tenure in October.

Establishing of International Institute of Technology in Mauritius is next in the queue with a similar proposal from Singapore. HRD ministry sources have said that IITs can only provide technical support. It should be at no cost to the Indian exchequer. India is also going to insist that the institute cannot be called IIT, even if it stands for International Institute of Technology. The IIT Council would decide how the IIT system would cooperate in setting up the proposed institute. Of the various committees set up by the ministry, the one headed by T Ramaswami, secretary of department of science & technology has given its report on the curriculum review.